Amiable Youth
by Aldo7Aces
Summary: Munsell Regent endures challenges as he goes from a Huntsman-in-training to a secret company operative after the fall. Thanks Antorii for the cover art! Violence and later lemons. 1stP POV.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **The Academy**

 **A/N: This is Aldo7Aces, this fanfic's author, and I'm bringing you an updated version of it. Content warning and disclaimer! I don't own RWBY, the series belongs to Rooster Teeth. I am not profiting from this in any way. Alright, now that that's out of the way… I've written a book that's post-apocalyptic and a mix of many things, having plenty of violence and such, so if you guys are interested, look for 'Sanctuary- Book One: Earth Reborn' (don't know how I'm gonna do it, but keep your eyes out for it if you're interested). I have a DeviantArt, so if you want to see some of the weapons and emblems mentioned in the story, be sure to check it out. I have a Twitter and YouTube (also Aldo7Aces) for anyone interested. Also, doing commissions and stuff for 3D weapons and emblems for anyone interested, just check out my DeviantArt for the details and I hope that you guys enjoy the story ahead of you. Music (something I'll always recommend every chapter) for this update… um… Hollywood Undead's 'Day of the Dead' album is pretty great so I'd suggest to give that a listen. Again, I hope you guys enjoy. I'll leave you to it.**

I'm fiddling on my computer, making a new weapon blueprint just to pass the time. My older brother Sterling walks into the room and complains, "Man, you never get out of here! Don't you have a girlfriend or something?"

I shake my head and tell him, "Not yet. Your fault we move so much."

He chuckles, "Yeah, but it comes with the job. Can't wait till you get out of here so I won't have to worry about where it takes me."

I chuckle and ask, "Seriously though, why are you here?"

He shrugs, leaning against my desk, "Well, schooling at Beacon Academy begins in about three days, Bro. Just kind of want to know how you feel. I didn't attend Beacon because I was already working, but I know it's not going to be easy. You're ready, right?"

I nod, "Yeah. All I need is to go. Can't wait for it. Like, I'm excited but nervous at the same time. I know that a lot is riding on my shoulders."

Sterling nods and gives an understanding smile, "Yeah. I can get ya, little bro. I felt the same way starting up working as a trainer."

I give him a confused look, "Why did you choose that over being a Huntsman?"

He's looking at his Scroll, "Meh. I could work earlier than become a Hunstman. Didn't have to go to school. And a lot of people pay good money to learn more about and better control their Auras and Semblances, so that was a plus, Munsell. I'm also pretty damn good at what I do, so may as well do it, right? Like dad used to say."

I nod and he tells me, "It's going to be weird without you here, you creep."

I chuckle, "Yeah, yeah. Fuck you too."

He laughs and gets up, tussling my hair with his right hand before heading out of my room. I look around at several of my things lying around in here. Figurines from some of my favorite series, posters from a couple bands, a few blueprints my dad left behind, some art my mom made. The blueprints are just a few circuit systems for energy efficiency and conversion rates and shortcuts while the art is three different pictures. The first is a tattered red flag with her emblem (a pair of wings with a double-sided spear with a spike and mirrored halberd head, blue in color) over an empty battlefield, the sun rising on the horizon, painting the sky in different shades of orange and purple. Another is an angel with mechanical wings (it has her features, long, free-flowing, red hair, piercing left and right green and blue eyes, respectively) holding out a hand and looking down on a man with brown skin, on his knees, wearing heavy metal armor, short, spiky, black hair, like two inches in length, his back to the perspective of the beholder. The last one is a painted version of a picture that took my face as a baby's profile for the left half, the other half being what I look like now (she had flashes of the future sometimes in her dreams, so she woke up when she saw my face and had to capture it) and the resemblance is uncanny.

I grab my laser rifle, Amber King, and kiss my battery pack, "I wish you two were still here…"

I grab my Scroll and text Carmine, my best bud, and tell him, 'Yo. Want to hang out for a bit, maybe spar, shoot some practice shots?'

He gives me a reply in about two minutes, 'Yeah, sure, see you at the field.'

I get my armor together and put it on, strapping my pack over my jacket at the waist and call out to Sterling as I head out, "Going to get some training in with Carmine. See you in a bit!"

He replies before I close the door, "Dinner'll be ready by the time you get back!"

We meet up in a clearing surrounded by trees and the sun is pretty low, ready to dip and make it dusk in probably about two hours. We're practicing our usual routine. Carmine's using his Semblance to generate psychic objects for me to zap with my pump-action laser rifle. This is a combined effort between us both where we attempt to become as close to in sync with each other as possible. Carmine makes his projectiles last a second long and he tries to make them as spread apart from each other with the perfect number that I will be able to shoot all of them without any disappearing. He laughs when I mess up a shot but I laugh at him when he puts in too many projectiles, showing how we both make our own mistakes.

Carmine asks me about five minutes into his projectile throwing, "So, do you think you'll be able to adjust to attending Beacon, Munsell?"

I sigh, "Yeah. I guess. I mean, I moved here for the last half of the school year several months ago… so I guess it won't be any different this time around."

He nods and tells me, "Hey, at least this time you'll have someone you know going with you."

I chuckle, "Yeah. Thanks for that. I know that the entry-readiness exams they held were hard for you to pass but you made it. I'm glad you put so much effort to be able to come with me to Beacon."

He chuckles as he fires three more projectiles for me to shoot, "Don't get soft on me now, Munsell! I did it just as much for you as I did for me."

I chuckle as I fire at each of the projectiles before he finishes talking. He asks me, "Your brother. How's he handling the new job?"

I reply as I charge the rifle with a few more pumps, "He's doing well. Dude paying's a huge guy in the community, paying top dollar to help out his daughter to learn and control her Semblance. Sterling's got a knack for helping others figure it out, so he's determined. Knowing him, he'll be able to take on a few missions too now that he won't have to worry about me and my school hours. He's pumped to take on Hunting missions like he'd do in the last few summers."

Carmine nods and I tell him, "Well. I'll be glad to get out of here. Don't get me wrong, Ixmus is great and all but I want to get into the next level of training. The kingdoms of Remnant basically guarantee work to all Huntsmen. Besides. It'll be fun."

He laughs, "Amen to that. Hey, I'm up for a sparring session if you feel ready."

I nod and we take off our upper body armor, combat greaves still over our pants. We get intense every time we spar, but neither of us uses our Semblance in our sessions (except for me at the end to heal both of us up only to do it again). Carmine stands ready defensively, his face devoid of humor, his eyes beholding me as the only thing that matters: his enemy. I grin and roll my neck, popping some of the bones and run towards him. I flip forward using my momentum, trying to crush him with my leg but he raises both arms to catch me. I'm ready for it, using my reaction speed to arc my back and back-handspring away from him before he can kick me with a powerful spin kick. We begin to circle each other slowly, each of our guards raised, ready for the other to make the first move.

Carmine is the one to attempt a rush first. He jumps toward me with his right fist raised. He lands, trying to deliver it for my face but I block and spin him, only for his other hand to come as a backfist blow. I catch it but it was a ploy, Carmine delivering a knee to my gut that earns a loss of air from me. He uses the moment to drive his right elbow under my chin, clacking my already clenched teeth, and uses his other leg to footplant my chest and knock me away. He chuckles, "Mark one for me while you patch yourself up."

I shake my head, "Nah. I can keep going. I'll pay you back that one, don't worry."

He nods and gets his guard back up. I rush him once again but fake a punch with my left arm that he tries to block. I catch his right wrist and his eyes widen in surprise, knowing he messed up. I bring my body close and use my right arm to elbow his face three times rapidly and transition it into a backfist blow across his face. I quickly bring my right hand to his right shoulder and let go of his arm with my left hand, bringing it to his back and kick his right leg at the shin, flipping him onto his back and stand over him, chuckling, "Told you. Guess we're even."

He nods and holds a hand out for me to help him up and we continue for probably about two hours, me using at least two batteries for the entire session to heal us. I can absorb the battery energy to fuel my Semblance to boost my strength and heal myself and others. I ask him, "Ready to go all out?"

He nods, "Yeah… I'm up for it."

We put back on our armor but don't grab our weapons.

Now's probably a great time to describe our equipment's design. I commonly wear black pants with padded greaves of a yellowish sort of tan color, black metal chest piece that covers the space from my collar to lower ribs that is two banded. I have a jacket that goes down to halfway through my thighs' lengths, dark yellow color with two black stripes up at the shoulders. It has padding built into the shoulders and chest under the layer of the jacket. The jacket is fully open but strapped in an 'X' over the metal chest piece to keep stray objects from catching in the jacket. The straps are the same tan as the greaves, the area where the jacket zips is a black trim. Strapped around my waist is my battery container my jacket, holding four extra recharging batteries for my rifle. I'm wearing black combat boots and a tan, long-sleeved shirt underneath my metal chest piece that's under the jacket.

Carmine's armor is light, consisting of a sort of plastic polymer that's as durable as most metals. He has plates of it that are like bracers over his lower arms, fingerless gloves coming out of them. His torso is protected by larger pieces of the same material, a large one over his chest, another one with joints over his back, held together by a harness. His legs only have pads of the same material over his thighs, wearing white, modified shoes with metal bits as additional armor for his feet while still keeping light. He wears a black, padded sort of long-sleeved shirt under his armor and his pants are a dark grey. His armor's polymer material is the same dark grey color and every piece has a red stripe running down its center. His hair is short, has a little gel, is brown and his eyes are red.

He gets into a ready defensive stance and I get prepared. I chuckle and his face is still sizing me up, gauging the best approach or defense, depending on how I act for the next five seconds. I rush him swiftly and allow my Semblance to prepare for any attacks he deals to me, to increase my damage output. My Semblance allows me to convert energy into something I can use, either for healing or boosting, or stored into my batteries for later. Usually the damage from combat is the energy I usually convert into a useable form.

He motions his hand and large, red psychic objects (somewhat transparent, like thick, foggy glass) cylindrical in shape form to my left and try to knock my down. I sidestep but in my moment of slowing down, Carmine creates another that comes from beneath me and clocks my chin, extending my body's length to where I'm an inch off of the ground, another psychic object (probably a vice, I can't see it but can feel it) clamps on the sides of my head and slams me on the ground.

Carmine follows up quickly, exploiting my moment of vulnerability. He runs towards me as he creates the last two objects and jumps through the air, trying to land on me with a combination of his right knee and fist. I react before he can connect his attack, rolling out of the way and get into a crouched position and dash toward him and knee his face, knocking him away. His counter is unexpected, a rectangular platform striking my legs and slamming me back on the ground. After so many sparring sessions, Carmine has learned that my weakness is being layed out on the ground, because I'm able to react more quickly on my feet. He creates a column and crushes my chest with it. He gets up and tries to create another, but it fails to happen. The one crushing me fades and eventually disappears and Carmine realizes he was too aggressive, wasting his energy, only to fuel mine without incapacitating me.

I roll forward and allow the energy boost to give me increased speed and punching power. I deliver a steady stream of fists and elbows, keeping him from recovering a guard. If he's blocking his upper body, I aim for his stomach or kick his legs, creating openings in different ways. I end it by grabbing his right arm and flip him over my shoulder, keeping my hold on his wrist and lock my legs around his upper arm, telling him, "Tap or I pop your elbow or shoulder!"

He taps my leg and I let go. I get up and help him up. He tells me, trying to stabilize his breathing after our fight, from intense to normal, "Final score… you have… twenty-six… I have eleven…"

I laugh and shake my head, "You and that score… haha…"

I pull out my Scroll and see that Sterling sent me a message, 'I called Carmine's parents and he can come over for dinner, hang till late or spend it if he wants.'

I nod and show him the message and ask, "You want to come over? Videogames and chill?"

He laughs and nods, "Sure, we haven't done that in a while."

We're gathered at the airship landing and my older brother Sterling is there waiting for our departure. He wears a black trench coat with red hex trim, black pants with two metal chains, and a white shirt that sports his emblem: a vertical eye in an alchemical circle. A female announcer is heard through the intercom, "All students attending Beacon Academy board ship twenty-six in terminal A7."

Sterling tells me as I grab my trunk, "Go out there. Make some friends. Maybe even a few enemies. Just… don't be boring! Christ."

I chuckle and tell him in response, "You find a lady friend, then you can tell me to change!"

The three of us laugh and he places his hand on my shoulder, "Look, little bro. I know you're excited to go become a Huntsman, but sometimes you need to take a breath. Remember that. Hmm… Mom and Dad would be proud of you."

I nod, a little sad to remember them, but I smile, "Yeah, they would be."

He points a finger at Carmine, "You need to get better or you're going to fail the mock-battles and sparring tests! How's my little brother going to feel being alone after his best friend flunks out of their first year!?"

Carmine chuckles and waves it off, "I will. Later, Sterling."

My brother hugs us both around the shoulders and tells us, "I'm proud of you guys. Don't forget that I'm a phone call or a Scroll chat away, alright?"

We nod and are rushed by the female announcer's voice, "All Beacon students board twenty-six in A7." We run over to the high-tech, multi-personnel transfer vehicle and the trip begins shortly thereafter.

I look out the window the whole way, appreciating all of the scenery. It's interesting to fly this high above everyone. I see the other ships flying nearby for the same reason as us. A crap ton of students I guess.

Carmine asks me as he chews some tropical flavored gummies, "How long till? Do you know?"

I shake my head, "No but-" I get cut off by the holographic television getting cut from the currently running news to a fashionable teacher or professor of sorts.

She begins talking, "Hello and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace and as future huntsmen and huntresses it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

I shrug after the projection cuts off, "Well. Looks like this could get interesting. It's nice to be greeted like this."

Carmine nods, "Sounds promising. I mean, our projections are better, but meh." The ship pulls next to the landing region and we walk off onto the platform and up to the schoolyard.

I'm overwhelmed with everything, "Whoah."

Carmine tells me, "C'mon, we've still got to get registered and stuff, remember?"

He pulls out a paper that we were each mailed a week before the trip and I nod, "Right. Let's get to the attendance office or whatever it is." He nods and we begin walking down the way.

Turns out it's in the cafeteria. There's a ton of others, and I assume they're all first years like us. People are forming their own cliques and groups after registering. Carmine and I eat our lunches apart from everyone at one of the tables along the edge of the cafeteria.

He chuckles to me, "It's exciting to be here, man. Can you believe it?"

I nod, "Yeah, it's incredible. We're going to do great."

About an hour later, we arrive at the gathering hall and find a position in the crowd. Goodwitch and Ozpin appear on a platform at the front and everyone grows quiet. Ozpin speaks into the microphone on-stage, "Hehumm… I'll… keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this. But your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

He leaves and I'm psyched. I'm here to test myself, to see how far I can improve. Everyone here assumes they're the best of the best, but we're not. I know we can all get better.

Goodwitch comes up to the mic after him, "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

I grin, "This might be my kind of school."

Carmine tells me, "We've got a few hours to kill."

I nod, "Yeah. We can hang out somewhere. Or you can go introduce yourself to some other people."

He agrees, "Yeah, that sounds good."

We head outside to the front and Carmine leaves while I watch several of the people there. It's a familiar thing to me. Just like the three other times I've moved. It's strange that it's the same as always. While I'm watching, a girl comes up to me. Her eyes are a deep blue and her black hair is short on the left but progressively becomes longer on the right.

She greets me with her hand outstretched, "Hey, I'm Nadeshiko Mila. I… don't know anyone here so I figured it would be good to talk to someone."

I nod and take her hand, "Yeah, sure. I'm Munsell Regent."

I ask her, a little interested in learning more about the first person to talk to me here aside from Carmine, "What're your weapons?"

She has two sheathes attached to her hip and she tells me, "Oh, these are a katana and ninjato. They absorb atmospheric particles and transform them into ice crystal projectiles."

I smile, "Cool. So why come and talk to me instead of anyone else?"

She shrugs, "You seemed nice enough. I saw you watching other people so I figured 'why watch others when he can interact with someone?'"

I nod, looking at her armor. She's wearing a type of kimono that only has the left sleeve, a metal breastplate over her chest. She has a gauntlet over her right arm made of leather without fingers that has plating on it. Her lower body clothing is some short shorts and two boots with padding on them that go up to her thighs. The kimono has cherry blossom tree designs on the area from the bottom up to the chest, the rest of the material a reddish brown. The leather of her boots and gauntlet are both the same reddish brown but the metals of her armor are all a kind of pinkish white.

I tell her as we sit down on a bench, "I like your armor. Pretty nice designing." She nods and tells me, "Yours is great too."

She asks as a follow-up to her comment about my armor, "What's your weapon?"

I reach to my back and undo the two close straps holding Amber King in place. I tell her as I hold it for her to see, "It has two pumps. The bottom one charges the next beam from the battery to be fired. The top one changes the firing type from focused to dispersed or constant."

She nods her understanding and Carmine shows up, "Hey, Munsell. I found some other interesting- oh, hey there."

He notices Nadeshiko and she asks, "Who're you?"

I tell her, "He's a great friend of mine. Came with me the whole way. From training up until acceptance into this place."

She smiles at that and stretches her hand out to him, "Nadeshiko Mila. Pleasure to meet you."

He takes her hand in his and nods, "Yeah, sure. I'm Carmine Grey."

He remains standing and tells me, "Hey, I was checking on you and whether you found someone to talk to. I found some other people I'd like to hang out with for now. I'll see you back at the ballroom. Later, man."

I nod, "Later, bro."

I stay seated with Nadeshiko and she asks me, "You guys must be close."

I chuckle, "Yeah. He's an antagonizing mofo. He's…" I look around to make sure that he's not around to hear my next comment, "Well… he's what one would use to consider average. His interest in coming here surprised me and we trained together, and I pushed him so that he could come with me here. So, yeah, I'd say we're close."

She giggles and nods, "Sounds good to have a friend like that. Especially to have him come here with you! I can't imagine how that must be."

When we reach the ballroom to sleep, we're each given a sleeping bag and I lie down, looking out at the main source of light creeping into the room. The tower emanates a green light and amazes me. I'm ready for whatever comes next.

It's the following morning and I'm grabbing my equipment for initiation from a temporary locker. Carmine comes up to me, fiddling with his combat armor, "Ready to go?"

I nod, "Definitely. Ready to do some work."

He nods, "Want to impress that Nadeshiko girl, huh?"

I shake my head, "Come on, man. No, I don't. I mean… I wouldn't mind it. She's cute and all but I doubt that I'll have the opportunity."

He chuckles, "Alright. You do you, man."

Goodwitch's voice is heard over the intercom, "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

We finish preparing and reach our destination. Each individual stands on pads with the school's emblem and Carmine and I fall into position to the right of a guy with blond hair who's shifting a little uncomfortably where he's standing. I haven't seen Nadeshiko yet so she must be somewhere else nearby.

Headmaster Ozpin begins to address us when we're all positioned, "For years you have trained to become warriors and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Goodwitch chimes in, "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today."

I'm surprised, thinking, "So we don't get to pick our partners? I hope that doesn't interfere with me and Carmine."

Ozpin resumes, "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Wait!? What!? That doesn't make any sense! Interest can't be gauged if immediate contact is the primary base of a relationship! I can feel my blood leave my face and I look at Carmine who's also looking at me the same way.

He resumes, "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die. You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path, containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item as well as your standing and grade you appropriately. Now, are there any questions?"

The nervous blond guy raises a hand, "Yeah, um sir…"

Ozpin declares, "Good. Now, take your positions."

But it's like the blond hasn't heard him, or doesn't understand the rhetorical situation, "Uh sir… I've got um… a question. So this landing strategy thing uh, w- what is it? You're like dropping us off or something?"

The headmaster just looks through him, his hands placed on top of his cane, "No, you will be falling."

This doesn't change the blond's disposition, "Oh, I see- so like, did you hand out parachutes for us?"

Ozpin's answer is as flat as it's been every time any of us have heard him speak, "No. You will be using your own landing strategy."

The blond keeps probing and I've noticed that the people before him are steadily disappearing, "Uh huh. That. So um, what exactly is a landing strate-"

Like that, he's gone, launched into the sky after those before him and I'm next. I feel the square pad beneath me click and release, sending me soaring.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **The Emerald Forest**

 **A/N:** Hello! Aldo7Aces here, and I'm just here to say hello! Well… probably not just that. Content warning and disclaimer! I don't own RWBY, the series belongs to Rooster Teeth. I am not profiting from this in any way. Alright, now that that's out of the way, I hope those of you that have progressed this far are interested in the story. I'm not that good at writing daily life stuff so that's a bad reason as to why the first chapter felt so choppy and rushed. I hope to improve over the course of this story. Content warning. I don't know how brutal I may get in some of the injuries. I've already written a book and if you want to hear a sample of it, go to YouTube and find my channel. You'll see what I mean. So, yeah, gore and stuff are common to me and I barely flinch at its description but I hope this story is tame in comparison to my book. Um… possible fluff/smut/lemon material. I've not yet really tried my hand at it before so we'll see how it goes. *Nervous chuckle.* But other than that, I hope you guys are entertained by my ideas, both here and (possibly) at my channel. I will allow you to continue.

I draw Amber King after front flipping and pump his top gauge until he's at his dispersed firing mode. I aim downwards in front of me to slow me down slightly with a wide blast form the pull of the trigger. I know I can't react quick enough to stop me from slamming into a tree, so that's when I decide to use my semblance. It's an ability that requires me getting injured. Sure, my Aura is protective but I can control how much it helps. I allow myself to be damaged slightly by the tree, enough to fully recharge Amber King's loaded battery.

I pull out one of the spare batteries from my pack and drain some of the energy from it, healing my body. I put it away and dust myself off before looking around. I see several people flying through the air above and nearby me, going further into the forest. Guess that means I've got more ground to cover. I jump down from the branch I'm currently on onto other ones beneath and reach the forest floor.

I turn the way everyone else is headed and run at a steady pace through the terrain. Two Beowolves appear behind me and are chasing after me at full speed. I switch my two-handed grip on Amber King so that I can reach into my jacket with my right hand and then my left. I attach him to my back again and they've almost caught up. I jump and spin to my left, directing my right foot to meet one by the throat, pushing him a little away from me towards the left, his partner dodging.

He growls and takes a swipe for my head. I block with my left arm and pull back my right, redirecting the absorbed energy into my right arm. My semblance not only allows me to direct the force of a blow into my energy batteries, but it allows me to use their energy, or direct the power of an attack into my own. I smirk and deliver my brass knuckled fist as an uppercut to his chin, earning an instant knockout judging by how sharply his head angles up.

He falls onto his back and his ally has recovered his composure. He's hunched over on all fours and uses his position to charge me with a claw swipe. I back handspring away from him and draw my gun quickly. I pump the top pump to switch to the constant beam firing mode and open fire on his vulnerable face. The beam burns his eyes and the Grimm uses its paws to protect the area from another blast.

I just aim for his chest and pump the top gauge twice to return back to the dispersed firing mode. I pump energy for the next shot with the bottom pump and kick off of the ground towards him. I place the barrel flat against his exposed torso and the trigger's pull creates a small energy field that bludgeons the Grimm's chest cavity.

He falls backwards to the ground dead and I dust myself off. I hear a girl's voice on a branch above and behind me, "Nice job with those wolves, Goldie!"

I turn and see a girl with long red hair, yellow eyes, and it seems that she's about as tall as Nadeshiko. I shout out to her, "Munsell Regent! It's what I do! Guess you're my partner!"

She nods and drops down from her position. She's wearing a skinny leather jacket that reaches only as low as the upper part of her back with metal plates over the shoulders, her sleeves rolled up over her elbows. Her jacket is unzipped, worn over a metal plate with two holstered knives on her back. She has an under layer of a skin tight, thin, red and black suit with padding along the arms and shins. She's wearing black shorts and active shoes with hollowed soles, fingerless black gloves on her hands. She stretches her arms behind her head and cracks the bones in her neck, popping her knuckles. She punches my shoulder and laughs, "I'm Terra Storm. Nice to be paired with a capable partner. Come on! Let's get going, Goldie!"

I nod and grin, "Of course. Let's go."

We run ahead together and she laughs, "Man, what a rush! I've been wanting to do stuff like this my entire life!"

I put away my knuckles, Amon and Barbados, nodding in agreement, "Yep! This'll be a great year!"

We keep going until two Ursi cross our paths. Terra draws two knives from a holster around her waist and grinds them together, "Goldie, I've got this one."

I tell her as I draw Amber King in preparation, "It's not 'Goldie', it's Munsell!"

She runs up to the first one and it tries to smack her away with the back of its right arm. She jumps up and stabs her knives into its limb. Terra jumps over and draws her other two back-sheathed knives. She stabs them into its throat and removes them before the other Ursa can claw her back.

She stabs one of her knives between two of its digits as it tries to claw her and she impales the other one through its vulnerable rib cage. She recovers her blades and tells me as I holster my rifle, "Told you I had it."

I shake my head and chuckle, "Alright, I'll take your word from here on."

She punches my shoulder again and we pick up our pace again.

We reach what looks like a crumbled temple and I can see fighting in the distance. A Nevermore in flight and a Deathstalker on the ground at a bridge. Doesn't look like a scrap I want to get involved with. I see a few large chess pieces that are colored black or gold but their numbers are few. We might be one of the last groups. I see Nadeshiko out of the tree line and call out, "Hey! Over here!"

Nadeshiko sees me and her face lights up with a smile that makes me blush a little. Carmine appears close behind her and I give him a salute. They come over and I toss them a black pawn piece and grab one myself, "Let's get back to the top of the cliff!"

They nod their agreement and we begin to sprint. We reach the cliff's end but in order to reach it, we have to get over a thirty-foot vertical climb. I think of a plan and tell Carmine, "Use your semblance to make a few hand and footholds. This'll be fun."

He nods and begins to create holes in the rock wall with the psychic objects he's making. He begins to climb and Nadeshiko follows behind him when he nears the top. I tell them, "Terra and I will stand guard while you guys climb. Then you guys can watch over us."

I hear a piercing howl nearby when Nadeshiko reaches a few feet up. I turn and see a tall Beowulf with different armor plating from the usual ones, giving an impression of being pretty experienced. I draw my laser rifle and switch it to fire focused beams. I fire one towards its head but the Grimm dodges with a quick sidestep. I pump energy through the battery into the containment chamber and I fire again, the beast dodging once more, growling at me.

It sets its sights on me and charges quickly on all fours and I attempt to block with my rifle. It slams its right paw down on my weapon and I can feel my arms pop in several parts of their joints. I'm about to deflect him but his other arm swipes beneath my legs, taking me out with my body slamming hard on the ground.

The Grimm picks me up by the head and pins my weapon to the ground with its left foot. I struggle to free myself from its grip but to no avail. I hear Terra yell, "I've got you, Goldie!"

I see out from between its fingers that she's at its other leg and she slashes its tendons. This earns a roar from the hostile and it throws me aside, to the rock wall and I slam hard. I spit at the ground as I get back up and watch while Terra dodges around.

There are small tendrils of electricity between her limbs and four knives. She kicks off of one to the other, using them like steps in the air as she throws and pulls them back, piercing the Beowulf's skin. It roars and spins, knocking her out of the sky with a well-placed blow. I sprint over to my weapon and prepare it for a dispersed shot.

I yell to Carmine, "Keep me covered!"

He draws his assault rifle and yells, "Of course!"

He opens fire on the Grimm and I watch as it sidesteps and charges for the cliff wall where Nadeshiko is still climbing. She's crushed under its left arm and she yells in pain. I sprint forward and it throws her down into the ground at its feet. I yell as I get close, "I've got you!"

It stands above us both and she's hurting on the ground behind me. It brings its paws down towards her body but I get in the way with my left arm, catching both. I can feel the pain in my arm and I know its enough for the battery to fill to the brim. I overload the shot with the energy from the Grimm's blow and I pull the trigger with the barrel at the beast's chin and blast its skull open. I ask Nadeshiko, "Are you okay?"

She nods, "Just… a little hurt."

I order Carmine, "Make a platform for her to get up!"

He nods and puts away his rifle, requiring his entire focus for such an ability. Another Beowulf like the last one appears and I help Terra up, "You good?"

She nods and picks up her knives, "Yeah, just a little shaken, Goldie."

I ask her, "What do those knives of yours do?"

She responds as we get ready for its attack, "Conduct energy currents like my semblance."

I nod, "Can you transmit the charge from one to another?"

She nods and I grin, "Fire three of them at my rifle and put one in front of it. This'll be good."

The Grimm charges us while she sets up her weapons. She fires electricity through three of them to my rifle and I aim it at the last one. At the pull of my trigger, a massive beam is unleashed that recoils my aim above the final blade. I grit my teeth and use my left arm to force the barrel back down as the large enemy approaches.

A wall of ice forms in front of it as it attempts to rush towards us and I turn my head to see Nadeshiko has one of her blades drawn. Carmine aims his assault rifle and unleashes fire as the bullets have stray projectile phantoms to make our opponent's time of dodging harder.

Terra yells from behind me, "You got it under control?"

I nod and concentrate as I fire the beam at the final knife, Terra looking at her knife to make sure the blade directs the energy properly. The thick beam of golden light acts as a pointer to follow the Grimm, slicing off its limbs as it tries to evade, directed by Terra's aim, the both of us somewhat laughing bewilderedly at the craziness of our idea working.

All is silent after it dies and we high five. Nadeshiko and Carmine cheer for us and we get to the rock wall. Carmine makes a platform for Terra while I climb the wall with Carmine's handholds. Now all we have to do is walk through some wilderness to the top of the cliff. We face no more opposition to our objective.

We're taken from the cliff's edge back to the school by some teachers along with a large group of other first-years. We arrive at the same hall as when we were first brought here for the opening ceremony yesterday. We're given orders to stay together with our partners with whom we recovered the corresponding pieces to which each pair acquired, Ozpin soon arriving back on the stage as before and explains the process of our team assignments.

He will call our names, we will join him on the stage, the others will applaud, and we will assume our positions in the crowd again. I stand still, not minding my legs going numb as he proceeds to list off around twenty something teams. My chest is welling up with each passing team and each of my team mates is reacting the same way. Other names that sound like they start off like one of ours make us practically jump. Carmine nearly yells "Yes!" when he mishears another person's name, only stopped by Terra clamping his mouth shut and telling him to shush while pointing at the pictures appearing on the screen above the stage.

It all builds up. Up until he reaches us. My heart tightens in my chest when I hear him call the first name. Not mine, sorry. Carmine has the pleasure to now act a fool. I'm extremely elated. We've made it. We're now officially students at Beacon.

"Carmine Grey, Nadeshiko Mila, Munsell Regent, Terra Storm. The four of you acquired the black pawn pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team Regent, led by Munsell Regent."

Carmine wraps an arm around my shoulders while Terra punches me in one of them. Nadeshiko blushes a little and tells me, "Good job."

I blush and nod, "Thanks."

Everyone claps and we return to the audience. About another fifteen groups go by until he announces, "Russell Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark. The four of you recovered the black bishop pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team Cardinal, led by Cardin Winchester."

I notice that their armor is all very similar. Either they all shop at the same store or that's just a coincidence. My team claps and we watch as they clear the stage. Next group, "Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team Juniper, led by Jaune Arc."

I clap just as I have been doing for the other teams, laughing with everyone else when we see the JNPR team leader knocked to the ground by Pyrrha.

The headmaster moves onto the last group, "And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team Ruby, led by Ruby Rose."

Everyone claps and cheers again, probably louder than before due to it being the final team assembled. Goodwitch appears again and tells everyone, "You will gather in the ballroom until we have all of your room assignments settled. You may eat lunch and dinner in the cafeteria but after dinner hours you will return to the ballroom until you receive your room assignments. Please, feel free to mingle amongst yourselves until then. You are dismissed."

Everyone begins to leave out of the ceremonial hall and Carmine places his hand on my shoulder and tells me, "I want you to meet some people."

He directs Nadeshiko, Terra, and myself through the mass of the other teams. We reach a small group of other people, eight in total. He tells me, "These are the two people I was talking to yesterday. Jaune, Ruby, this is Munsell Regent. My best friend."

Jaune stretches his hand out to me and nods, "Nice to meet you."

I take it and Ruby exclaims to me, "Pleased to meet another team leader!"

I chuckle, "Nice to meet you too."

We're the only ones left in the ceremony hall. Goodwitch appears and tells us, "I forgot to mention that the ceremony hall is closed. I assumed everyone would leave as soon as possible. You may remain outside if it doesn't bother you."

I nod, "Yes, of course, ma'am."

We leave outside and stay close to one of the entrances, our teams are gathered with each other and I talk to the others, "I believe introductions are in order. I'm Munsell, this is Nadeshiko, Terra, and Carmine."

Jaune introduces JNPR, "Jaune, Ren, Pyrrha, Nora."

Ruby introduces her teammates, "I'm Ruby, here is Weiss, Blake, and my sister, Yang."

I nod, we sit down and I ask Pyrrha, "So what do you do?"

Most of them are surprised, a slight raised brow, widened eyes. Weiss puts her thumb and index finger over the bridge area of her nose and sighs, "I am NOT going to explain it again."

Carmine tells me, "Dude, she's like a pro. Practically a celeb. How've you never heard of her?"

I shrug, "Move a lot. Didn't really pay attention to anything besides what interested me, but sure, if she's so gifted I applaud that. I understand what it's like to put forth a lot of effort for something. Guess I never thought I'd meet a celebrity so… hehe…"

She nods and asks, "Thank you. So where've you moved around to?"

I lean back and start listing the places off on my fingers, "Of the actual _big_ towns? Croma, Auro, Indy, New Nex, Chambervault, and lastly, Ixmus. Several other smaller ones but…"

Their eyes open wider as I shrug off how much I've moved. I sigh and shrug, "Guess you could say I'm culturally diverse or well-versed in travel."

Carmine lightly pats my back. He knows how it feels for me to remember every one of my past schools. I ask Weiss, "So what about you? What do you do?"

She looks like she's about to become infuriated but she calms down after realizing that if I didn't know Pyrrha, I reasonably may not know about her either. She tells me, "I'm Weiss Schnee. My family runs the largest dust company in the industry."

I process that for a second and exclaim, "OH! _That_ Schnee! I thought it sounded familiar. Nah, dust is practically useless to me now."

She's surprised and sounds almost mad, "What!? How can dust be useless to you!? It is by far the best material that mankind has ever harnessed!"

I grab Amber King by the stock with my right hand and my battery carrier with my left. I open Amber King's charge container and tell her, "My brother helped me develop these rechargeable batteries. No bullets. No need to worry about shells and cartridges or constant weapon maintenance. That's why."

She nods approval and asks me, "You guys developed those yourselves?"

I nod, "Yeah, but I guess someone else can talk about themselves now. I want to get to know you guys."

Yang speaks up, "Well then. I'm Yang and this is my little sister Ruby. She skipped a few grades to be here with us and our level."

Ruby yells at her, "Yang! I told you not to tell anyone!"

Yang chuckles, "Yeah sis, but they would've figured it out eventually anyway! Better to save the confusion."

Ruby pouts a little and mumbles, "I guess."

Yang continues, "I'm a thrill-seeker so if you guys ever want to do something risky and stupid, I'd be happy for an invite. You, Blake?"

The black haired girl shrugs slightly, "Not really. Boring life. I read but that's about it."

I chuckle, "Come on! No dark secrets? Aspirations?"

She gives me a light smirk and shakes her head, "No. What about you Jaune?"

He panics a little, "Wha- secrets!? No! None!"

Pyrrha chuckles, "Of course not, Jaune. She meant for you to talk about yourself."

He calms down noticeably, "Oh, yeah… um… nothing really. Boring. Well, actually I grew up with seven sisters so not _that_ boring."

I nod, "Sure."

He points to Nora with one of his thumbs, "What about you?"

She smiles a little, "Ren and I grew up together. We're a pair. Well not a _pair_ like a _pair,_ but partners. I keep him out of trouble."

I can't help but smile and chuckle at that and I ask Weiss, "What else does royalty do besides count their Lien?"

She gives me a slight glare and tells me, "I practice for concerts and events. I sing."

I raise a brow sarcastically, "Smart, rich, _and_ talented. Pretty good."

She gets a little annoyed and asks me, "Fine, what do you do, then?"

I shrug, "Fiddle with Amber King. Draw. Practice with my semblance and that's about it."

Weiss is surprised, "Draw?"

I nod, "Yeah, why?"

She shrugs, "I don't know. I just thought it'd be something else like stealing and arson. Why drawing?"

I tell her and the others, "It's just something that my mom loved to do a lot before. When she and Dad died, I was very destructive. My brother made me pick up a hobby and it turned out that drawing was the best fit for me. I didn't get into any more fights with other kids. I sat calm and made art."

Everyone's quiet until Carmine chimes in, "Yeah, the school saw his stuff and his art teacher asked if he could make a mural."

I blush a little when Ruby asks, "Do you have a picture!?"

I grab my Scroll and stammer, "Y- Yeah! Ri- Right here! Gimme a sec…"

I unlock my screen and make all of the applications disappear so they can see the image that is my screensaver.

Ixmus is a huge experimental technologies area so it only made sense to do something along that theme. The mural is two sleeping people. One's a guy, the other a girl. They're positioned in a yin and yang way and they have prosthetic body parts of white or black color. There's a line that is a heartbeat in the background with lines in the same shape emitting from it behind the two bodies. Everyone else is amazed by the image and Ruby exclaims, "That's good!"

I blush a little, and Carmine asks Nadeshiko and Terra, "You guys?"

Nadeshiko blushes at the sudden attention and Terra sits up. Terra tells us, "I do gymnastics but love gaming a lot. So one's my exercise and the other is my entertainment. I'll still do homework and stuff, just on my own time."

Nadeshiko speaks up after her, "I… read, too. I'm even writing a book."

I raise a brow, "Ooooo. That sounds cool. How many pages so far?"

She blushes, "Uhm… fifty-four."

I nod approval while Nora asks, "What's it about!? Ooo, is it like vampires!? A romance novel!? Ooo, maybe a-"

Ren interrupts her, "Nora. Let her finish."

She sits still and Nadeshiko tells us, "It's a sci-fi thing. The main character controls time and gets involved in a world of other people like him both good and bad."

I chuckle, "Sounds nice."

She blushes a little, "Th- thanks."

I look at my Scroll's time and it's approaching six. I get up and tell them, "I'm getting our room assignment."

Ruby gets up after and tells everyone, "I'm going too. Jaune, I'll just message you your team's room."

We walk over to the cafeteria and I ask Ruby, "So how old are you and Yang?"

She replies and follows with her own question, "I'm fifteen and she's seventeen. Why do you move around so much?"

I shrug as we near the building, "Ever since our parents died, my brother's been taking care of me. He's pretty good at helping people tap into their auras and semblances so he's been using it as a job to support us."

I continue, "It takes a while for them to fully control their abilities, so he would advertise in the next town and gather calls. The people would pay to have him add them to his plan and once he finished in one town, we'd move to the next. So we'd last a few months and after he'd finish teaching his last client in one town, we'd move to the next and the process would repeat. That's why I moved around so much."

She's tells me in an understanding tone, "I know how you feel. My mom died before I can remember. Yang tells me Dad was crushed and he always gets a sad kind of face when I ask him about her. We grew up in Patch. My uncle helped raise us too. He's pretty cool. He taught me how to use my weapon."

She raises my interest with the last statement, "And what would that be?"

She pulls a rifle from its holster on the bottom of her lower back and holds it in her hands. She tells me with enthusiasm, "This is Crescent Rose. It's a sniper rifle and a scythe."

I chuckle, "That doesn't look like a scythe to me."

She moves her hand once and the weapon makes several sounds of moving metal on metal as the entire weapon unfolds in several locations until it unveils its true form, as she said, a scythe. I tell her, "That's pretty cool. I wish I could combine melee and range in one weapon but I would've had to sacrifice the battery system I use."

She asks, "What do you do for close range?"

I pull out Amon and tell her, "I have two of these for melee. Can I tell you my semblance as a secret?"

She replies, "Sure. You can trust me."

I tell her as I put my brass knuckle away, "I redirect the energy from attacks into my batteries or my own melee attacks. I also use the power as a way to heal others. So I don't worry if I get hit so long as I'm ready to hit back. Especially with Amon and Barbados."

Ruby's eyes are wide and she tells me, "That's cool. I just do things and move very quickly."

I take a guess, "Like super speed? That'd be convenient. So your uncle taught you how to use your scythe?"

She nods, "Yeah, he's a teacher at Signal but he took some of his time when he was able and taught me. It wasn't the easiest or nicest way to learn but it worked."

I nod and we're near the front of the line in the cafeteria before either of us even notices. I chuckle, "Man, it's nice to pass by time like this."

She nods, blushing a little, "Yeah. It's not often that I find someone as interested in weapons and stuff like me."

I nod, blushing a little at seeing her blush. She's actually kind of cute. I turn to look at the front of the line and attempt to refocus, "Yeah... so… did you like… uh… m- make! Make your weapon?"

She nods, "Yeah. All of the students at signal forge their own weapons. Did you make yours?"

I nod, "Kind of. I mean, my brother did a lot of the buying parts, tuning, and the general idea of it. I did the building and made the battery system on paper. He told me it looked like it would work and he helped me make the batteries. When we made the weapon's capacitor and I took aim… oh man… that was probably the most exciting moment of my life."

She nods and asks, "How long did it take to make it?"

I breathe and let out the air as a quick burst, "Man… I think probably… about two years. I've had it now for four years so it's been good for a while. Sometimes it needs tuning, though, so that's the only kind of maintenance Amber King really needs."

We reach the front of the line and there's a woman in a lab coat behind it with several folders in front of her and a computer in the middle of them. She looks up at me and states, "Team name."

I nod, "Uh, RGNT."

She nods and types a little into her computer, "The information has been sent to your scroll."

Ruby follows quickly after and she shows me her scroll, "Where is your room?"

I show her on my screen and she tells me, excited, "That's down the hall from mine and Jaune's teams!"

I'm surprised, "Cool! Can't wait to tell the others."

She texts Jaune his team's room number and we head back to the others.

I'm about to ask Ruby if she thinks it's a good time to eat dinner with them but my stomach growls first. I chuckle, "That's embarrassing."

She giggles a little and asks, smiling, "You hungry?"

I nod, "Yeah, actually. I think the others might be as well."

We reach the group and inform the others of the room assignments. I ask everyone, "Hungry?"

They nod and I snap, "Then let's get going."

Eating goes by slowly. About less than an hour. We're joking and telling stories for the entirety of the time we're there. Even Weiss is joking around. We finish having our fun at around ten and we decide to call it a day.

Each team heads for their room in the dorm and my group is the first to their room. I open the door and there're four beds aligned with each other. I shrug towards the blandness of it while Terra's the first to tackle her bed, "Man, I'm tired! Today was so crazy!"

I chuckle at her behavior and sit down on the edge of mine. I'm the first out of us that begins to take off their armor and I look at my squad mates. They're each doing their own thing, throwing their belongings next to their beds, changing out of their armor, hanging up their new uniforms in the closet.

Nadeshiko pulls a towel out of her bag and several bits of clothes and Terra peaks from where her head is resting from her arms, "Dang it... I should've showered first. I got next."

I chuckle, "You guys go ahead. I'm going out for a walk."

I've taken off my armor completely and reach into my bag for a pair of sneakers. I close the door behind me and walk out into the hall. I see Ruby turning the corner out of the hall towards the stairs at that end and basically run after her, slowing down when I reach the end to not seem like I'm weird or whatever. I catch up to her and exclaim from a few steps behind her, "Hey, fellow team leader!"

She turns around and smiles, "Hey, Munsell!"

I nod and walk down the steps with her and ask, "What are you doing?"

She shrugs, "Thought I'd just go out for a walk. Want to get familiar with this place a little so I'm not confused tomorrow, hehe. What about you?"

I scratch the back of my head and tell her, "Just wanted to catch a breath. Can't believe I'm here."

She nods lightly and looks forward, a little dazed, "Me neither."

I chuckle at her reaction and joke, "Guess you must think you're some big hotshot jumping a couple grades, huh?"

She turns to me and her cheeks are _extremely_ red. Her expression is somewhat embarrassed and she exclaims, "No! N- That's not…! I didn't-"

I chuckle, "Calm down, Ruby. I was just messing with you. Sorry."

She waves it off after sighing, "No- I mean… you're good. I just don't feel comfortable with how this turned out."

I'm confused, "What do you mean?"

Ruby holds her left arm by around the bicep with her right hand as we reach the door that leads outside to the school grounds, "I didn't expect to be a leader. I don't like how today started. And… uhm… can you keep a secret?"

I nod, "Yeah, of course, whatever it is."

She continues, "I don't think I belong here. Everyone else is so… in control. They know what they're doing and they're just… ready."

I shake my head, "You're wrong."

She's surprised by my response, "What do you mean?"

I continue as we walk around outside, "Well… I don't know what in the world I'm doing. I never expected so much out of today. It was so exciting yet… scary, y'know? I wasn't in control. I was just… reacting. I wasn't ready for what came my way and I just did my best to handle it all. So I guess my advice to you would be to do what you think you should and what comes naturally. If it fails… then that's why we have team mates, right? To help us become better."

She looks at me kind of awed and I blush, "Did I say something wrong?"

Ruby shakes her head, smiling, "No… it was pretty nice, really. It's… How are you so good at talking and art and making people feel better about themselves… and stuff?"

I turn to her before she says the last part and she turns away from me at the same time she adds the last two words.

I chuckle and shrug, "Dunno. Just… don't like to see a friend hurting… you're a good person, Ruby. Your heart's in the right place."

She turns her head my direction and asks a little weakly, but happy, "You really think so?"

I nod, "I know so."

She hugs my right arm while leaning her head against my shoulder and I feel myself tense up a little and blush. We walk around outside like that for a bit and my body calms down until we're close to one of the ridges of the school looking out over the town and beneath the moon and I ask Ruby, "Would you like to sit down like this or…?"

She realizes that my arm is still in her grip and she's leaning her head against it. Ruby becomes… well… ruby in the face. She exclaims, "Oh, s- sorry! Was I like that the whole time!? I didn't know-"

I chuckle and sit down, grabbing her hand and pulling her down gently, "I didn't mind."

She blushes a little more (than I thought humanly possible) and sits quietly. She asks me a little after the blood has left her face, and she seems to have calmed, "Why do you want to become a Huntsman?"

I sit with my hand holding up my chin and tell her, "I've been around to several different places and just seeing all of the different people has influenced me a ton and I want to keep them safe. So, being a Huntsman is just the way I can do it."

She nods, "Me too. Well, except I'll be a Huntress. I mean, I want to help people. So I guess we're going to give it our best!"

I nod, "That's the attitude."

We sit there for about a half hour and eventually get up to go. We return to our respective rooms and when I enter mine, Nadeshiko and Terra are having what must've been a long conversation until I arrived, both of whom are in their sleeping clothes. They look at me and stop and I can hear that the shower must be currently occupied by Carmine. I close the door completely behind me and ask, "Did I interrupt you guys? I could put on headphones or something."

Nadeshiko shakes her head but Terra pipes up, "Actually, could you answer a question for us?"

Nadeshiko immediately turns red and tells her, "No! Don't ask him!"

Terra waves off her plea and asks me, "What do you look for most in a girl?"

I'm surprised, caught off-guard, "Wha?"

Terra continues while Nadeshiko becomes progressively redder in the face, "Like, what do you look for the most? Like, her brain, her personality, or… her boobs?"

I begin to blush, "Wai- hold on! Where'd this all start!?"

Terra just shrugs, "It just came up. Well… not about you, just guys in general. So what is it?"

The shower is still running, Terra looking at me quietly. Even Nadeshiko is quiet, awaiting my response and I shrug and scratch the back of my head, "Well… it comes to more than just that. I mean, it sounds like a lie to girls if a guy ever says anything except looks. To other guys they might say that you can't 'do her brain'. I mean, to me… it's gotta be… her laugh."

Terra raises a brow, "Laugh?"

I nod, "Yeah."

I sit down on my bed and Nadeshiko asks, "Why?"

I reply as I get my shower stuff out, "Well… it's really a gauge about how genuine a person is. If you can really get them to laugh a lot, then that means you have a potential relationship or the relationship is great. I just love the thought of saying something that sounds normal to me but the other person just bursts out in laughter. Sure, I won't just date a girl just because she has the 'perfect' laugh. It sounds shallow but she has to be someone I wouldn't mind associating myself with. I know it sounds bad but it's human nature. I just like to put it out there. You, Terra?"

She shrugs, "I usually go for handsome guys but not the jerks. I like the nerdy ones. Y'know? Like the ones that you'd never expect to go to a convention for a show they like dressed as their favorite character. Those guys. You, Nadeshiko?"

She turns red and stammers, "Bold… bold ones."

Terra chuckles after two seconds of silence, "Oookay…? Like how?"

Nadeshiko turns a little more red and says lightly, "Like… like… like the ones that make the first move… I guess?"

Terra's confused, "You 'guess'? Wait… Have you even been asked out by a guy before?"

I'm starting to get a little uncomfortable with Terra's questions toward Nadeshiko who's become pale everywhere but her cheeks. Her eyes dart towards me almost every time either of us move or shift and she responds, "Ye- Uh—Of course!"

Terra doesn't seem to believe her, "Really? What was the last guy's name?"

Nadeshiko stammers and I cut in before she responds, sighing before I begin, "Terra… that's enough. She's obviously uncomfortable. So what, does it matter? I haven't asked a girl out before. I also think that if no one's asked Nadeshiko out, then they're missing out. She's great. So don't continue making her feel bad about it, alright?"

Terra's eyes open wide and she looks at both me and Nadeshiko. Terra exclaims, "Oh—sorry! I didn't realize-! I'm sorry. I didn't notice I was making you feel uncomfortable! I usually miss out on signals…"

Nadeshiko is slowly returning to a normal skin tone and sighs, "It's okay… you're good."

The shower stops and I tell them, "Well, I'm gonna shower after he gets out and then hit the hay. You guys got your schedules, right?"

They nod and show me from where they are on the beds and I nod, "Alright. Then I'd recommend you guys catch some Z's so that we can wake up bright and early for class tomorrow."

They nod their agreement and Carmine emerges, flopping onto his bed and tells me, "Your turn."

I nod and step into the shower and by the time I emerge, the others are asleep. I slide into my bed and just wonder at how I got here. Sleep is welcome so that I can relax from all of what happened today. Not just for me, but for all of us.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Cold and Hot**

 **A/N:** Aldo7Aces here again! I figured I may as well tell you guys what's kept me up while writing this story. Music! In terms of English, check out Erra's "Impulse" album, Starset's "Transmissions" album, and Blowsight's songs from "Dystopia Lane", "Destination Terrorville", and "Shed Evil".

In terms of Japanese, Babymetal's "Road of Resistance" and "BABYMETAL" albums are pretty killer, and also something else. Also, the circle 'Draw the Emotional' has some pretty cool stuff in their compilation "Collapse of the Sky". Both Babymetal and Draw the Emotional feature work by an artist named 'Yuyoyuppe' and his Vocaloid album, "Scapegoat", featuring Megurine Luka, has a cool sound. So, that's all I gotta say. Without further delay…

I wake up early the following morning and see that my squad is entirely asleep. I check my Scroll and note that it's 6:17 in the morning. I get up and get changed. I pull an alarm clock out of my bag and a sticky note. I write down a message reading, "If you're reading this, it's time for you to get ready and get to class. Especially you, Carmine."

I set the clock for an alarm at eight and stick the note to it. I get changed into my uniform and hear Nadeshiko speak softly, "Hey, Munsell. What're you doing?"

I turn to her and smile lightly, "Just going for another walk. We all got our class schedules sent to our Scrolls, so I'm gonna catch breakfast and get to my first class maybe a little early."

She sits up on her bed and asks, "Can I come?"

I nod, "Uh, yeah! Sure. I wouldn't mind."

She gets up from her bed and I see that what she's wearing is pretty cute. A pinkish long-sleeved shirt (kind of like a turtle neck) and a reddish brown pair of shorts. I blush a little and turn away as she goes to the closet and grabs her uniform. She heads to the bathroom and I wait for her at the door to the hall.

Nadeshiko walks out after about a minute with neater hair and what must be… I think perfume. Yeah. Just can't figure out the scent. It's good, I mean really good. It suits her. I just… I think I'm blushing. Wait… she's staring at me funny. Now she's looking away. Is Nadeshiko blushing? I catch the end of something she's saying, "-ou okay?"

I snap out of it and shake my head quickly, "Huh, what?"

She asks again, not looking at me, "Are you okay?"

I nod, quickly opening the door, "Hu-Yeah. Yeah! S- Sorry, let's get going."

She goes before me and I lightly close the door behind me. Man… that was… weird. My heart is pumping quickly but calms down after a few minutes of walking. I ask Nadeshiko, "Do you have a preference when it comes to nicknames or...?"

She turns to me as we're walking out of the dorm building, "Uhm… no. None, not really. Why?"

I shrug, "I just felt like giving you one. What do you think of Shiko?"

She looks down and away from me and scratches her head, "Yeah… I like it… it sounds good."

I smile lightly at that and guide the way to the cafeteria. There aren't many other people around outside so I assume we're probably one of the few early risers on campus. She asks me, concerned, looking away again, "You weren't bothered by anything Terra said anything last night… were you?"

I scratch the back of my head, "Just as long as you weren't, I'm alright. You good?"

She nods, "Y- Yeah! Fine! I don't want you to worry about it."

We walk awkwardly for a few moments until we reach the cafeteria doors. I take in a whiff of all the smells of breakfast. Eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, breakfast pastries, cookies, fruit, a veritable assortment of each available throughout the serving stations and each student here with their own unique trays, no two matching entirely. My stomach growls at an audible level and Shiko giggles, "Guess I found your weakness. Haha."

I clench my hands over my gut and chuckle, "Yeah, but I'll admit that it's my favorite."

She giggles lightly at that and grabs my hand, "C'mon, let's get to eating!"

I don't argue with her as she guides me towards one of the serving counters. The cafeteria staff greet us with warm smiles and a woman with her orange hair in a bun and green eyes asks me, "What would you like?"

I look at the assortment of meals in front of me and point at the skillet hashbrowns, a sunny-side up egg, two pancakes, and lastly, a sausage patty. To down it, I get a small carton of chocolate milk from one of the nearby machines. The woman puts butter and syrup on the cakes before handing me my ready plate and my mouth is already watering from the anticipation of the meal in my hands.

I find a nearby seat and Nadeshiko plants herself next to me relatively quickly. Her plate consists of a colache, an omelet with cheese, a quarter-inch slice of ham, and a juice carton. I nod at her food choice and place my egg atop the hashbrown before proceeding to demolish and mix the two together, the yellow coating the remains of the potato and egg. I cut a part off of my sausage patty and use it as a shovel to acquire some of the hashed egg mix.

Oh, Dust. Delicious. Absolutely well-made. I let out a loud "Mmm mmm" before proceeding to devour the pancakes and take a moderate swig the milk. I hear her through half a mouthful of food, "Sooooo GOOD!"

We resume eating until we both finish, too satisfied with our food to have any real conversation. I chuckle, "Man… that was awesome. If being in training to be a Hunsman means breakfast like that… I don't want to ever graduate."

Shiko nods, "Oh yeah! It was so-"

She cuts herself off by belching quite audibly, earning glances from some of the other nearby students. I try to hold in my laughter but it bursts through my poorly closed teeth in one of those powerful, gut-bursting blasts. Nadeshiko covers her mouth with both of her hands, her eyes clenched tightly, her stomach inflating and deflating rapidly as she laughs just as heavily as I am and I wipe my tears from my eyes, "Whoooh… man that was great."

It's only 7:43. About another hour until our first period. I ask my teammate, "So, what exactly is your first period?"

Shiko replies, "Uh, I have Astronomical Studies One with Professor Nero. Wait, don't you have everyone's schedules?"

I pull out my Scroll and chuckle while shaking my head, "Whoops… still not used to this stuff. At least I was trying to be normal instead of like a creeper going, 'Let me see her classes'."

She chuckles at that and I see the way that classes work. Two types of days. Hot or cold, like the color palette.

Cold days consist of four solo classes and four team classes. The day starts with solo classes and alternates until the end of the day on a team class. Hot days, however, have a different schedule. A class alone followed by a different class with each of your team's partners, one off period, another period with the partner we made eye contact with, and lastly two team classes. Very interesting stuff.

We start the schedule off on a cold day. Probably to give us a familiar feel of the school life and be prepared for tomorrow. Cool. Haha. Pun… I suck. So schedule-wise, solo classes are meant to improve the team individually. They're also like classes that each person is interested in. This is a unique system and I quite like it. I see that my first class is Tactical Reaction Development One with Professor Torn. I'm too focused on my schedule, Shiko has to pull on my arm to get my attention, "Do you want to split up now… or?"

I nod lightly, "Uh, yeah. Sure. Sorry, I haven't really taken the time to look at this earlier. Sorry."

She waves her hands in front of herself, "No, don't worry, you're good. You wouldn't mind doing this again, would you?"

I give her two thumbs up, "No no. I wouldn't mind. We can do this again. Just give me a heads up first, that way I'll get plenty of sleep."

She smiles lightly and walks towards one of the cafeteria exits while I head for one of the others. It's about 8:10 when I walk into Professor Torn's classroom. The door's just wide-open so I decide to let myself through. I call out, "Hello? Professor Torn?"

No one else is inside but I notice a side door in one of the walls. It opens and out walks a man probably in his late thirties. He has dark red, spiky hair and a goatee. His eyes are a similar red color. He's wearing a white button-up shirt with a red tie and extremely dark red slacks. His shoes are fancy black ones and he greets me, "Yo. Callin' me? Most kids usually aren't early on their first day, y'know?"

I chuckle, "Sorry. Early riser, late sleeper. Didn't really have much else to keep myself entertained in my team's room either."

He claps his hands together, "Well, you could've walked around a lot more. Now I have to look responsible with you here for another… thirty-something minutes."

He gives off a vibe like my older brother and I relax a little around him. He continues, "There're plenty of shortcuts but you didn't bother searching for any. Crowded halls will be the end of you, 'specially on the first day. Piece of advice to occupy your time. Weight room. But privileges to that are usually unavailable to first years until the first week is up."

He continues, "Uhm… what else can stop you from interrupting my pre-class personal time? Uhm… let's think… thinking. Personal reflection could work. Prayer or meditation. Call it what you will. That works. We even have churches and study halls or the library for those. Go for morning jogs around the campus and then shower before coming to class. That way you'll be awake, sharp, and smell attractive (hopefully)."

He proceeds listing several things that go above my head until there're five minutes left before class is supposed to begin and other students begin to fill into the classroom, taking up all of the seats slowly. He chuckles when they start to pour in and claps his hands together when his last student arrives. He points at the last person to walk through the doorway and tells them, "Shut the door tightly."

He emphasizes the last part with authority, as if disobeying him would result in dire consequences and he tells everyone, "Take your seats, please."

We all do and he tells us, "Ground rules of the class. Anything said here remains here. This is a place of respect, so unless you have the permission or absolute reason to repeat anything said here, don't spoil what happens here. Respect is important. All Huntsmen are important. Like those of you who began training since a young age or not, to the grizzled veteran in front of you, we are all equal at all times. No lives are worth more than others."

Next point, "I do not like formality all that much, so you'll probably rarely receive homework" this earns several whoops of approval and clapping, "and I'll probably refer to you by first and or last name. You may call me anything, so long as it ends with 'Torn' after it. Some of you may snicker at the thought of calling me 'fuckface' but I will make you suffer for not properly identifying the noun of which that pronoun belongs to without the noun acting as the identifier after it."

Another policy, "I don't like inaccuracy or misconceptions, so I don't want 'fuckface' to be processed as directed at every individual here instead of at me. Also, that's why the door is closed. I'm extremely chill. I curse. I swear. I joke. I expect you'll most likely do the same and it would also, more often than not, be inappropriate for a classroom setting, but you guys are young adults, so I expect you all to take the responsibility behind anything you say or do. Improper grammar and cowardice are the biggest underminings of anyone, in my opinion."

On swearing, "Back to terms such as 'fuckface'. You are allowed to curse. But do not expect that you will not receive a curse in response to a curse you send. The way you treat others is how you will be treated in this class. If you want to argue or play the fool with me and demonstrate how smart you think you are, I assure you, I am more than twice any of you in terms of age, I have much more experience with the language, and I am the one who gives you a grade. Remember those three things before you value the opinions of your fellows based off of a joke versus a correct answer. You waste our time, I will pay you back for it, with approval from the class. Any misunderstandings?"

Everyone's quiet. A teacher that's quite unlike anything we've been conditioned to be accustomed to? Very weird school alright. Everyone is fine with everything he just said and I notice Pyrrha is amongst the people in my class. Professor Torn continues, "Also, bonus points to anyone who can avoid calling me the same title more than once throughout the entire school year. About two entire letter grades."

Everyone is surprised by the offer and he continues, "You misunderstand. It's not easy. This is Tactical Reaction Development for a reason. I will call on you at random and I expect you to respond by calling my name for confirmation that you heard me. If you fumble and repeat one, you're out of the running. Don't think you can make it easier towards the end of the year, either. Repeating a title from the beginning of the year will not save you. I have an advanced memory. I keep pins on all of my students. Even my fourth years for different classes. I can tell you if a fourth year has had me all four years or two, or just three, maybe one, what periods, with who, and whether or not they've repeated addressing me by a different title. If you put forth that much effort and succeed, I believe you should be compensated. No one has claimed it either so I would be impressed. Now. Fun bits out of the way, let's begin class."

The bell rings and he tells us after it finishes, "This class is mainly based off of your participation. If you are using your Scroll, I may or may not deduct points. If I ask you what you are doing on it, by Ozpin's cane and mug, you damn well better tell me what either is stealing your attention from me or has you multi-tasking your mind while listening to me. If you tell me 'nothing', that tells me that this class is not immersive enough for you and doesn't have you involved. I will then assign you homework and I know that you don't want to do that nor do I want to grade it but it will be your way to recover the participation points you lose. Not all of them, but most.

Necessities and recording, "Now, supplies. This class is mainly verbal, so there will be virtually no need for any materials. Recording devices may help, but if it is footage, ask for permission from everyone in the video, audio, or pictures if you can use it in anything."

Attendance, "Now. This is the first period of the day. If you are tardy, I don't care. Just shoot me a message saying you are going to be late and I will mark you as present. Unless you don't show up. Sometimes I won't mark you as absent, so you don't always have to worry about your attendance. I know it can be hard. Whether it be sleep, breakfast, or an extra off period, you can do that. Just expect that as soon as you walk through my door, you will be asked something and I will expect an answer. You may also do other classwork in here if you believe you can manage it."

Now actually beginning class, "So, your first assignment. Find a partner and talk to them. The main thing about this class is developing connections. You guys have the rest of this class to relax, it's the first day, so we're starting off easy, but I will expect you to answer two questions about them tomorrow."

Everyone moves awkwardly trying to find a person they want to associate with but I move quickly and decisively to Pyrrha. I sit next to her and stretch my hand out to her. She takes it and I tell her, "Saw you run in here pretty quickly. You alright?"

She blushes, "Oh, yeah… my team and RWBY were busy doing some things. Was almost late. You?"

I tell her, "Nah. I was here before anyone. Got kind of told what I could do to avoid being early again, actually. So yeah, I figure I could tell you a bit of those while we talk."

She nods, "That sounds grand."

Professor Torn remains sitting at his desk, joking with most of the class and telling stories while everyone talks.

The bell rings and dismisses us to our next class.

Professor Song. Teams RGNT, JNPR, and RWBY, along with several others. This is Huntsmen Tools and Tactics One. A short-haired woman with white hair wearing a fashionable coat and some combat boots stands at her desk. Her pants are dark blue in color while her eyes are a violet hue. She addresses the class, "I am sure you are all familiar with our purpose as Hunstmen. To remove any threats to our society while keeping the public as safe as possible. And I believe each of you have your own means of accomplishing that objective. However, during your time at this academy, you will learn countless additional hunting strategies versus certain Grimm and how to use certain tools and equipment employed versus specific threats."

She continues, "This class will demand training exercises and will also expose you guys to potential physical harm. Something you're all familiar with, seeing as you had to go through the entry exam and signed off on not holding the academy accountable for anything that happens during your classes, so too little, too late to read that contract now. My job is to introduce you to the most common of these items that will be at your disposal and the tactics practiced and well-understood by every Huntsmen."

I look to my teammates and they nod. We're going to learn this well.

So this is my cold day schedule.

Tactical Reaction One- Torn

Huntsmen Tools and Tactics One- Song

Artistry: Multimedia One- Mint

Understanding and Relationships- Lapis

Free Period (Lunch and Study, essentially)

History and Lore (An exception to the team class thing, a course anyone can take any year: Required at some point)- Oobleck.

Diversity One- Pitch

Grimm Studies One- Port

Most of the other classes are the same as my first one. Rules, basics, the way things work and what is to be expected. My Artistry classes are going to be good, but Diversity has kinda thrown me for a loop. It's a class with a little bit of everything. We're going to learn some cooking. Some music stuff. Heck, even some card games! Best of all, it won't feel like school!

Then there's the required classes. Huntsmen Tools and Tactics seems to be fun and interesting but we'll have to practice writing reports like one would see from the field. History and Lore would be cool if I wasn't too distracted by the way the teacher moved so quickly with little effort or exasperation of breath. Won't be a fun class to go through. Now, it's time for Port's.

Well, I'm seated next to Nadeshiko in the back, Carmine in the corner closest to the entryway, and Terra in the front row (much to her growling discontent). I point them out to Nadeshiko and they turn our way. Carmine gives me a thumbs up to which I slightly blush but Terra rolls her eyes, mouthing the words "Kill me now."

She really doesn't seem to like being in the front. I chuckle with Shiko at that and Professor Port begins to speak. "Welcome to your first year of Grimm Studies! There's much to discuss, class, and all of it is important. I recommend you take notes as anything I say could be on a test or pop quiz any day! Nothing quite like being caught off guard!"

I feel like this guy's energy is the kind that is alright at first but gradually degrades from that level as time goes on. He pulls out a few slats with drawings and descriptions of several Grimm, putting them over the chalkboard. He announces to the class, "Monsters! Deeeemons. Prowlers of the night. Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names. But I merely refer to them as 'prey'! Haha! Haha."

No one seems to be willing to give out any more energy, seeing how this is the last class of the day. Professor Port continues, "Uh… And you shall too upon graduating from this prestigious academy. Now, as I was saying… Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces, and that's where we come in. Huntsmen, Huntresses!"

He clicks his tongue and Shiko gets a shiver down her spine, "Bugh… Creepy."

I nod and hide my mouth that's twisted from the awkwardness from view with my left hand. "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! 'From what?', you ask. Why, the very world!"

Some kid exclaims and raises his fist but promptly puts it back down as most that look at him do so with an 'irritated at the annoying guy in the class' fashion.

"That is what you are training to become. But first, a story. A tale of a young, handsome man: me. When I was a boy"

I groan. Please don't tell me he's one of those teachers. The ones that use their class time to boast about themselves. I mean, it's fine every once in a while but it'll get old soon. I joke to Shiko, "How much of what he's saying do you think is just pointless rabble versus actual events."

She chuckles lightly and tells me, "I thought I was the only one with doubts. I think about sixty percent rabble and forty percent exaggeration. How much do you bet he has a snack stash in his desk?"

I rub my right hand against my chin and think, "Huh… don't know. I say… fifty Lien. But how are we going to figure it out?"

She responds after shaking on the bet, "Uhm… we'll figure it out."

Professor Port continues and I see a guy pick himself up from almost slamming his face on the desk from boredom. Only about forty minutes of this left, "Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man. 'Peter', he told me,"

It's at this point where I've given up entirely on believing that his story would have any significant pertinence to the lesson… or class. Dude, Just… please stop. Just shush. This is such a cringe-worthy period. It of course has to be the last period of the day to serve as a reminder that we are still in a school environment and can't do anything about this.

"In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero."

I sigh from relief. At least he's done with the story. "The moral of the story? A true Huntsman must be honorable. A true Huntsman must be dependable. A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise. So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Literally as soon as he finishes his sentence, Weiss raises her hand in an instant and exclaims, "I DO, SIR!"

She sounds rather bold, so she's got that going for her. Seems like his tone is intrigued because he exclaims, "Well then… let's find out! Step forward and face your opponent."

There's a cage that I must have failed to notice. That or he brought it out in the middle of while he was talking. I may have fallen asleep for a moment. He dismisses her to change and retrieve her weapon. I hear my teammate next to me say lightly, "She seemed pretty mad."

I'm confused, "What do you mean?"

Shiko turns to me, "You didn't see the way she walked out? She was pretty steamed. Guess she hasn't been having a good day."

I nod, "Yeah... well, I hope things pick up for her."

We all wait until Weiss returns. She gets into position with her own pace, Port not in a rush to unleash the beast quite yet. The heiress's comrades cheer and several others whoop and exclaim in excitement, apparently becoming fully awake for the most exciting part of the class, if not the day. Yang, "Go Weiss!"

Blake offers encouragement, "Fight well!"

Ruby seems the most committed. I don't know if it's her role as a leader or her pride in having such a powerful teammate, but she's bursting with energy as she shouts, "Yeah, represent team RWBY!"

Weiss doesn't seem to enjoy any part of it. She snaps at the red-cloaked girl, frustration in her voice, "Ruby! I'm trying to focus!"

I barely hear Ruby apologize before Professor Port prepares for the action, "Alright! Let the match… begin!"

And with a swipe of his blunderbuss axe, the lock on the cage comes off and the hostile creature rushes out at Weiss. She evades while slashing but only the sharp sound of metal hitting an obstacle is heard. An indirect hit to the armor. Professor Port exclaims, obviously in a good humor, "Haha! Wasn't expecting that, were you?"

Ruby gives words of support, "Hang in there Weiss!"

Barely any time passes before the white-haired swordswoman is barreling toward her enemy as it rushes her. It seems like the hit may be lethal but the beast turns its head and catches her rapier, lodging it between its horns. I'm sitting on the edge of my seat. Seems like things aren't going as planned.

Professor Port doesn't seem to notice the grunts of struggle and the tone behind them. Weiss is frustrated (probably from a mistake) and he states, "Bold your approach. I like it!"

Ruby seems to be enjoying the match, telling her friend, "C'mon Weiss! Show it who's boss!"

She turns to look at the younger girl and in that moment of distraction, her weapon is torn from her grasp and she's knocked down by the tusked Grimm. Professor Port seems surprised, "Hohoo. Now what will you do without your weapon?"

Shiko gasps as Weiss evades another blitz from her opponent, "That was close!"

I nod, "Yeah, her timing's great!"

"Weiss, go for its belly! There's no armor underneath it!"

It takes a fraction of a second for Weiss to recoil and snap at Ruby, "STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!"

The hog takes its opportunity to spin-dash towards Weiss, to which both Shiko and I are surprised, "Whooaah…"

Weiss waits until the final moment to swipe her hands and create an ice blue-colored barrier to knock the enemy onto its back with its own momentum. She summons another and flips backwards to another one she summons. It shifts from its tone to black and to an intense blue and launches her at a quick speed toward the underbelly of the Grimm, driving her blade, quite audibly, through it as it squeals before dying in the same instant.

She's panting heavily but this seems to go by unnoticed as Professor Port cheers, "Bravo! Bravo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training. I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings. And! Stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"

Whoah? Early dismissal? That's actually pretty cool. Guess if a teacher's plans aren't entirely time-consuming, then they have the power to dismiss early. Jaune asks lightly, a tone of confusion present in his voice, "Sheesh. What's with her?"

I sigh and Shiko asks me, "What is it?"

I reply before getting up, "I'm going to talk to both of them."

She nods, "Tell me how it goes, alright?"

I nod, "Definitely."

Everyone files out of the classroom at their own pace and I follow after the numbers have dwindled. I look around after leaving the building and see Ruby headed for the dorm. I catch up to the younger girl and catch her attention, "Hey, fellow team leader. What happened in there?"

She responds, not letting it phase her, "Just a little confusion."

I nod, "Are you alright?"

Ruby nods, scratching the back of her head, "Yeah. I'm just going to do a little bit more to prove that I'm worthy of my position."

We reach the door to the dorm building and ask her as I hold it open, "Is there any way I can help?"

She thinks for a second and replies, "Do you know much about 'social behaviors of pack animals'?"

I raise a brow, "I guess… Why?"

She shows me a paper in her hands and points at it, "That's the topic that Professor Port assigned us to create a list of at least twenty common traits between different pack animals. Were you listening?"

I chuckle, "I may have dosed off right when he assigned it."

She giggles, "Yeah… I kinda dosed off myself. So I guess we can help each other."

We reach her team's room and she opens it to Blake reading a book on her bed and her sister in the middle of changing her shirt. I exclaim, "Whoah!" and this earns attention from the two of them. Blake just resumes reading while Yang pulls the shirt down and asks, "What's wrong Munsell? Neither of you two know how to knock?"

Ruby states coyly, "Sorry… sis…"

Yang shrugs it off and asks us, "What's going on you guys?"

I tell the blonde, "Well, we're just covering the assignment that Port assigned. You guys?"

Yang responds, "About to get Blake's help with it. Still have to do my other classes' assignments."

I nod, "I feel ya. You Blake?"

She replies in a monotone voice, "Just reading. Already finished most of my work."

Ruby asks, "Do you guys know where Weiss went?"

Yang nods as she goes through some of her stuff, "Yeah, she said she was headed to the library. Haven't seen her since."

I pardon myself for a moment and head down the hall to my team's room. Carmine's pulling out some supplies for his assignments, Terra's serving herself some coffee from a machine I'm guessing she might've brought. Nadeshiko is changed into her night clothes and already doing her work. She looks up and asks, "What do you need?"

I reply, "Just getting some stuff to do my work. Anyone want to come with me?"

Carmine shakes his head, "Nah, bro. 'D rather stay here and organize my stuff. Maybe we can all organize this room for a bit when later comes around."

Terra shakes her head, "Yeah, me too. I'm gonna stay here and video chat with someone. You better keep quiet, Carmine. I don't want anyone interrupting."

He waves it off, "Pfft. I'll be too busy. You'll have to worry about Nadeshiko keeping you distracted."

Nadeshiko gets up, "Actually, I'll go with you, Munsell. We can help each other."

I grin a little, "Alright. Just let me get changed real quickly and then we can go."

We join RBY in their dorm room and Yang compliments Shiko, "You look pretty in that outfit, Nadeshiko."

She blushes and smiles lightly, "Ah… thanks… you look nice too."

The brawler responds, "Yeah, I guess some people like me better without the shirt though."

Shiko's face changes into one of shock and confusion and I turn beet red, "Yang, I didn't open the door, alright… It was an accident."

Nadeshiko looks at me in surprise but she's interrupted by Ruby coming out of the bathroom, "Oh, hey Munsell, Nadeshiko."

Shiko's blush fades for a majority as she waves lightly, "Hi. Guys. So, what are we doing?"

I look at my Scroll to recall my class schedule. I tell them, "Well, I need to do the stuff from Tools and Tactics, History, and for Grimm Studies. But that was with all of you guys so we might be able to do it together. For Diversity… we were assigned an essay to write about anything that's due in three days. So I can do that in a different teacher's class."

Shiko adds, "Uh huh. Well, I have to do the team ones like you but I have to think of a topic to discuss in Confidence."

Ruby's surprised by the name of the class and asks, "'Confidence'? What do you mean?"

Nadeshiko looks down, "Well, I've got like… anxiety. So I figured that it might help to put myself in situations that require getting over it. Also, Torn's a pretty chill teacher so it might go-"

I interrupt, "OH, YOU'VE GOT TORN!?"

The girls (especially Blake) jump at my reaction. Shiko chuckles nervously, "Uhm… yeah… why?"

I tell her, excited, "Ooooh, he's just so cool! I have him for first. You?"

She replies, "Fifth."

I settle back down and we begin to work on the class assignments. After about an hour and a half, we move onto our solo classes for an hour. I notice Yang and Ruby yawning and I ask, "Tired?"

They nod, Yang adding, "Yeah… this is harder than I thought it would be. I'd kill for some coffee."

I remember seeing a coffee machine on top of the bookshelf in our dorm room and I exclaim, "OH! I KNOW WHERE TO GET SOME!"

I wrap my arm around one of Shiko's, pulling my hand behind my back to lock her in a grip, use the same hand to grab one of Ruby's, and use the other hand to grab Yang's.

I drag them to the door and force them to follow me to our dorm, the door sensing my Scroll when I hold it up to the knob and open it. Carmine looks up from his work and Terra's playing a handheld game. They're surprised by our appearance with RY in the doorway. Terra raises a brow, "What happens?"

I ask her, "The coffee machine. Yours right?"

She nods, "Yeah, but how did you fig-"

I interrupt, "Can we please use it. These guys need fuel."

She nods, "Yeah… sure. You guys can borrow it for the night if you want. Just make sure to put the mugs somewhere that they'll get cleaned."

They're happy for the machine and grab the mugs and powder. Ruby exclaims, "Thank you!"

We leave quickly and I see that it's a little after eight. I tell the girls, "I'm dropping out of this study session."

The trio of girls groan. Yang asks, "But why? You were contributing so much!"

I tell them, "Shiko, can you bring my work with you when you guys finish up here? I'm going to go talk to Weiss."

Blake makes a light sound, "Good luck with that."

I leave and head down the stairs of the dorm building and out of the doors to head to the library. I enter and see a few people playing board and card games, computer games, and reading some of the books. Others are in groups having discussions of various nerdy things. I walk around until I find a table to the side with Weiss sitting alone looking over four books and a few small paper stacks. She's very dedicated, I'll give her that.

I walk up behind her and tap the top of her head with a single finger. She nearly exclaims from surprise and lets out an angry breath, "Munsell… don't disturb a girl in her studies. Especially me."

I chuckle, "C'mon. You've gotta relax some time. Have you been working alone this whole time?"

She nods, "Of course. That's how you have the best results without others interfering."

I'm surprised, "Wow. Guess you're not that familiar with the concept of a team."

She sighs and presses her head into her hands, "If I wanted someone to judge me, I would've done my work in my team's room."

I sigh and pull up a chair next to her, "Weiss… I didn't come here to judge you. I wanted to come talk to you. About a few things."

She gets annoyed with me, "I don't want to talk to you."

My arms are crossed on the table, my chin resting on them and I ask her, "Is everything alright?"

She scoffs lightly, "I don't think I have to tell you anything."

I shrug, "Yeah. But I want to tell you a story.; When I moved from a town to another with my brother, I tended to be reclusive."

I sit up facing her, "But when we moved to Ixmus, one person wanted in. That was Carmine. He wanted to seek friendship with me. You'd think I'd accept him as a friend, right? No. I tried to keep him out. Wanted to keep my goals in focus. But he wouldn't give up. When I told him to let me attempt to shorten my plans to get here, he said he had his own plans to get here, I nearly laughed. He didn't seem the kind who could do it. But he trailed me. Wanted to spar me. I laughed, thought he wouldn't have been much of a challenge. Damn, I was wrong. Best mistake of my life. He was the most determined opponent I had ever faced. Long story short, I took him up as a partner. He actually made training more difficult than I thought it would've been. We competed at our school and came third in the doubles event after beating the other team that lost in the semi-finals round. I felt like giving up but he was much more determined. Sure, he's probably not the best fighter, or the best at sticking to a training regimen, but when it came to others, he could always be counted on. Guess it's the same as what you've got with Ruby or something. But, I guess I'm gonna get going. Taken too much of your ti-"

As I get up to leave, Weiss puts her hand on my wrist and stops me from leaving. She sighs and tells me, "Munsell… I see where you're going with this… and I'm not the first to admit it: I'm not the easiest person to talk to or get along with. Guess I'm like you used to be. Can you help me?"

I sit back down, interested, "What do you need my help with?"

She replies, "I want to help out my team more, but I don't know how to do that. What would you do to apologize to someone?"

I shrug, "You could actually work with them. Maybe try to be nice or do nice things. I was helping Shiko, Ruby, and Yang with their work. Well, we were helping each other. Oooh! You could socialize with them more, your team. Your friends. All of us. We're here for you."

She nods, "Munsell… thanks. I think I'm going to go back to my dorm now."

I offer, "I can walk you there. I'm headed back that way myself, so…"

She nods, "Sure. That sounds… alright."

I help her gather her materials and we walk together silently until we reach the hall of our team rooms. I wish her luck and head to my team's room, ready to catch some sleep. I open the door slowly and step in softly, my hand keeping the knob turned to prevent the locking mechanism from clicking. I look at my team. Their bags are set for tomorrow, but they have a few papers out.

I organize the sheets near their respective owners' bags and change out of my clothes in the bathroom and into shorts without socks or a shirt. I'm about to slide into bed but there's a light knocking on the door. I open it up to a Weiss with a light grin, "Hey… Munsell."

I scratch the back of my head, "Yo, what's up?"

She gives me a hug around my chest and tells me, "Thanks." I blush lightly and chuckle, "Ice Queen, are you being nice?"

She snaps back at me, "This is one of the few times I'm going to be nice to you."

I pat the top of her head and she smacks my hand, "I just wanted to tell you thanks. That's it. Enjoy your night."

And just like that, she's gone. I sigh and smile to myself as I look at my sleeping comrades. Carmine's snoring. Terra's muttering in her sleep. Nadeshiko appears to be cold so I put her blanket over her. She stops her turning and smiles lightly. I blush and slip into my sheets to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **The Swing of Things**

 **A/N:** Aldo7Aces, once again. I hope that you're enjoying the story so far. If you guys want to PM me and tell me what you think of the story so far, ya can. Don't want to pester you guys about it so just saving this here as a reminder. I legit have time to kill. Umm… what now… music… I guess. Um, the first Dead Rising's Psychopath's themes and some of the songs from BlazBlue as well. Devil May Cry too. Dope's 'No Regrets' album is also pretty cool so yeah… that's probably it. Onwards!

I wake up and the time's 5:48. I yawn and cancel the alarm for six to avoid disturbing my team. I look out the window and the shining green light of the tower creeps in slightly as I peer out at the rest of the relatively dark realm. I can feel it on my face and somehow… it makes me feel safe.

This school. This is probably the best place I've been in at any point in my whole life. I grab my second uniform and a change of underwear and head into the shower. I finish a little after six and walk out ready for the day. I'm about to set the alarm for my other team mates but Nadeshiko's voice speaks lightly, "Munsell? You're up? You heading out?"

I nod, "Yeah. Sorry if I woke you up."

She shakes her disorganized head, "No, no. I usually wake up at this time. Would you mind if I join you?"

I shrug, "If you want to come, I won't stop you. I don't mind the company."

She nods and gets up, arranging her things for the shower. I dial my brother on my Scroll for a video call and he picks up after the third beep. I see his slightly irritated face with hidden happiness, "You had to call me now?"

I chuckle, "Yeah… sorry. Just figured I may as well call you now because this might be around the time from now on when I'm not busy working on school stuff with my team mates and friends."

His hair has a tuft in it from how long he's been in bed and he tells me, "You're good. You beat my alarm by about fifteen minutes, so that's… meh. How's it over there?"

I shrug, "Uniform's annoying but I'm getting ready for the first hot day."

He nods, "And who's the team?"

I reply, "Me, Carmine, and two girls. I'm the leader."

He nods, "Sounds good. Treat them well, alright?"

I nod, "Yeah, I know. I will. They're each important to me. Hey… what do I do if… I start liking someone here?"

He immediately becomes wide-awake, "Shit! Already!? Damn, didn't realize you'd start crushing on a girl if you had more than a couple months to look forward to with them!"

I shrug, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. No, I mean, there're two cute girls I'm interested in but I don't know how to make a choice. I mean, one's another team leader and one's on my team but… it's complicated alright. I mean, I feel like I'm making progress with one or the other every time I'm with either but I don't know if they feel the same way back."

He chuckles, "That's up to you, bro. Just, remember… if you end up getting into a relationship with one… treat them well."

He says the last part slowly and gentle and I nod, "Yeah… I'll do my best. I just hope that I can figure out what I'm doing."

He laughs and hangs up, "Love ya, lil' bro."

I mutter after a light chuckle, "Useless…"

I hear the shower turn off and soon it is followed by Shiko emerging in her uniform and smelling the same as yesterday, but this time I'm prepared for it! I tell her as she comes to the door, "You smell great."

I face-palm internally. Why. Why did I have to say something? Now it's going to be awkward! She lightly blushes and replies, "Th-thanks."

I blush lightly. Idiot. I open the door and we head down the stairs, through the courtyard, and into the cafeteria for breakfast. It's very similar to yesterday, but this time, I notice Nora and Ren a bit of a ways from us. I point them out to Shiko and ask her, "Do you want us to go sit with them?"

She lightly shakes her head, "Nah. They seem to be having a good enough time to themselves."

I agree, noting Ren holding a conversation with Nora, Ren writing something in a small notebook in his hands every once in a while Nora devours pancakes. I nod to myself and shrug, "Yeah. They do."

I ask her, "Are you ready for our class with Professor Amber?"

She nods, "Yeah. I heard that she's a cool teacher, but in a different way from Torn."

I nod, "Ah. Do you have any siblings?"

She nods, "Younger sister. She's nine years old. I adore her. She's nothing like me at all. She wants to become high-case lawyer. Can you believe that? At such a young age, she already knows what she wants to do. I'm glad it's nothing like being a Huntress! She'll be safe."

I smile lightly at that, "I can tell that you really love her."

Shiko nods, "She's everything to me."

We continue eating until ten minutes before first period begins. So this is my schedule for cold and hot days.

Tactical Reaction One- Torn— 9:00 AM

Huntsmen Tools and Tactics One- Song— 9:55 AM

Artistry: Multimedia One- Mint— 10:50 AM

Understanding and Relationships- Lapis— 11:45 PM

Free Period— 12:40 PM

History and Lore- Oobleck— 1:15 PM

Diversity One- Pitch— 2:10 PM

Grimm Studies One- Port— 3:05 PM

Release— 4:00 PM

Dust Technology Developments- Chroma— 9:00 AM

Principles of Covert Operations- Grey— 9:55 AM

Principles of Operation Efficiency- Grey— 10:50 AM

Academy Volunteering- Amber— 11:45 PM

Free Period— 12:40 PM

Programming and Coding- Dhalia— 1:15 PM

Missions and Assignments I- Tirrian— 2:10 PM

Combat Simulation- Goodwitch— 3:05 PM

Release— 4:00 PM

I reach Chroma's room with a couple of minutes left before the bell rings. I take my seat at a seat next to a random guy, next to the left wall of the room in the middle of the rows. I get a look at Chroma and rub my eyes to make sure what I'm seeing is right.

He's wearing an orange long-sleeved button up shirt with the right sleeve rolled up. His black hair is a little longer than a buzz cut and he has a slash for a scar across his nose under his eyes. His pants are black jeans and his skin is a dark brown. His eyes are orange as well but his right arm has my attention. It's prosthetic. Not like any of the ones that look like a normal limb, but the ones that have plating and are made of dark metals.

When the bell rings he taps the table at the front of the room twice with his right hand in a loose fist, "Alright. Welcome to Dust Technology Developments. I'm Professor Riggs Chroma. I will be your instructor for the following year and will be teaching you as much as I can about the development and research of Dust and the possible applications of it in combat and other fields of study."

Everyone's intent on every word he's saying, "I see that I have individuals from every grade here. That means this class is very diverse. Also means that there will be possible disagreements between you guys. Don't let 'experience' be the cause for a conflict. Everyone's opinion is valid. Another thing I want to get out of the way…"

He holds up his right arm for everyone to get a better look at, "I am living testament to the possibilities that Dust can achieve. This arm may not be able to do everything the original could, but there are other things it can do. I can't feel my wife hold my hand. I can mystify my son. I get stares. I give them a reason to watch. This does not define me. I use it to give life a new definition. And you guys should do the same. Don't let your abilities make you, but make your abilities change everything around you. So, that aside, who would like to tell me what the capital of technologies is?"

I'm about to raise my hand when I see that he points at someone else, "You ma'am."

I hear the familiar matter-of-fact voice of Weiss answer, "Ixmus, sir."

He nods, "And can you tell me five technologies being developed there?"

She shakes her head at that, "No… sir. I can only name four."

He shrugs, "Go ahead, Miss Schnee."

She nods and lists them, "Prosthetics, neurology, excavation—of dust, and robotics."

He gives her a quick thumbs up and asks, "Is there anyone else who can name another? There're very many of them. No one?"

I slowly raise my hand, "Sir?"

He nods when he sees me, "Yes? Do you know another?"

I nod, "Yeah- I mean 'yes'. Energy preservation."

I look at Weiss and when she realizes that I only know because of my rifle, her face reads one of, 'OF COURSE! WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF IT!?' I lightly smile and Professor Chroma chuckles, "That's an interesting one to bring up. Can anyone else tell me where energy preservation could be used?"

He points at other people as they raise their hands.

"Cars."

"Batteries."

"Factories."

Professor Chroma chuckles, "Not bad. But those are all virtually domestic. Let me teach you about it…"

The bell rings while he's teaching us about how the different qualities of Dust can affect their use. My head feels weird. Like I learned a TON but that it might all just disappear. Luckily, I was keeping notes. Very interesting class, and the energy that Professor Chroma emitted was one that demanded attention, even if both of his arms were normal.

Now it's time for a class with Carmine. This is either going to go really well or really bad. Oh well. No other way to find out. I enter the classroom labeled, "Grey" and see a man with spiky, unkempt, blonde hair with a patch of silver in it. (Same name as Carmine but no relation.) He's in an open military coat with some padded armor underneath; his lower body is protected by boots and guards that reach as high as his thighs. He tells those of us as we trickle in, "Pick an odd numbered spot if you're the first one here. Your partner can get the even spot that corresponds with it."

Everyone gets into their seat and we watch as the professor introduces himself, "Hello, everyone. I'm Norman Grey and I will be your instructor for the course of the school year. After reviewing a majority of the highlights of each team's footage in the forest a few days ago, I noted one thing that a lot of you shared. A lack of keeping a low profile. Once given your objective, you all rushed in virtually half-cocked, ready to prove yourselves but not really capable of doing it properly."

Carmine and I share a look and so are most other pairs, but Professor Grey continues, "The Grimm are usually the ones to charge. Your job is to be able to hunt them down, but to do so with as little casualty as possible. Catching them off-guard is one way to do that, but you never fully understand the current situation. A pack of six Beowolves becomes nine with two Borbatusks and an Ursa. Sure, sure. 'That's easy. I can handle it' is what most of you would think.

He makes us think, "But what if that's the fifth group you've fought in the span of an hour? All because you didn't keep your presence hidden. It becomes much harder for a mission to be completed if you break stealth. That's what this class is for. Principles of Covert Operations will inform you about most things about remaining undetected from masking your scent to using the environment. I do realize that sometimes it can be impossible to keep from being found so that's why using certain unrefined pieces of Dust or flash explosives help to grant an advantage to return to cover."

That's only the beginning. He lists several more things and both of us are having a hard time keeping up with the notes. Carmine is very intent on recording it all, even the minor details. I just have a list with a few words in each line. His is like a word for word page out of a book while mine is an outline type of thing. I'll remember what it's about but man… Carmine's intense…

The class finishes and I ask the professor, "So, is this next period also instructed by you?"

He chuckles a little loudly and shakes his head with a light grin, "No, you're confused. My sister is the Operation Efficiency teacher. Let me show you."

He points to a school layout map and shows me her room is in another room. I nod my understanding and head out to meet with Terra there. She gives me a light wave and the class is my smallest one so far. Each one has had anywhere from thirty to forty. Now? This one has twenty people. Ten pairs. Whoah. I hear the voice of the instructor and it's full of positive energy, "Hey! Come in, come in everyone! Welcome to Operation Efficiency. I'm excited to meet all of you. I hope this class can teach you a lot."

Terra picks a spot in the front for us to sit, excited by this teacher (that seems to be a complete opposite of Professor Port to her) and we get comfortable. Professor Grey is wearing a metallic right gauntlet and her right leg is in a metallic greave. She has a leather jacket and pants. Her eyes are a bright, sky blue and her hair is a lavender color.

It sounds funny, but her personality does not seem to fit her style. Hey, though. Labeling isn't right so that's fine. She can do whatever. She continues, "I'm Eliza Grey. If you haven't noticed, this is a small class. Not many people are interested in maximization but man, let me tell you. My life was saved long ago because of my meticulousness."

Professor Grey elaborates, "My team was in an incident where we were meant to kill a den of Beowolves. No. It was a miscommunication. There were three dens. Two were near the other one. My team had mocked me for my habits of keeping our team's supply of weaponry more than stocked. I'm obsessed with munitions, so to me, carrying additional rounds for other people didn't make me feel burdened at all. The munitions managers would jokingly ask me to stop asking for the maximum amount of ammo for missions because they didn't like filling out additional ammo forms for each of us in the team."

She continues, "We barely had, collectively, fifty rounds of ammunition left by the time we were finished. We knew we'd be dealing with an alpha or two, but we had to face eight with about thirty-something other betas. Not the funnest mission in the world when it came down to it, but you better believe that everyone no longer made fun of me after word spread. So, long story short, stay yourselves and don't let others tell you different. I want to meet each of you, as this first week is adjustment for you guys and myself so I want to learn more about all of you."

She points at a person on the end of the back row, "You can go first."

He's surprised and stammers in confusion before talking about himself. It moves on with everyone else getting their thoughts together until it reaches Terra and it's interesting to hear everyone's likes and talents. She chuckles and shrugs, "I'm a gamer and also enjoy exercise quite a bit. I like to think of dances and stuff while listening to music. I'm really excited for VR gaming to become a thing. My dad's a big name in the industry."

I'm surprised, chuckling, "You never told me about that!"

She shrugs and gives a small smirk, "You never asked. You go."

I put my arms behind my head, "Well, I am an aspiring artist and firearms designer. I love thinking about weapon designs and figuring out new ideas. I enjoy seeing other people's weapons because it just shows who they are and it makes me pumped, like, 'You're cool. You're awesome for rocking your way.'"

The last six people talk about themselves and we have six artists, four dancers, two singers, a writer, three athletes, three instrument focused individuals, and a contortionist. Interesting motley of people we have here. Ms. Grey is apparently also certified to be a psychology teacher so she's very obsessed with the way people's brains work. She spends a quarter of the class going on about this school's survey system.

So that's how these classes work, apparently. Before coming here, we had to fill out a survey about things we liked and disliked. Apparently, for first years, we are taking classes we tested to have the highest success and interest ratios to mold what type of specialty the teams have. The system automatically calculates the best classes and schedules after every team is formed and then gives out all of the room and schedule info within an hour (which is incredible).

From security to emergency roles, each team becomes what they are after that first year. We get to choose to build on what we learn by taking the next years of classes for most of them or modify our experience a bit. And it's all psychologically proven, apparently. I ask Terra when we're allowed to talk amongst ourselves for the rest of the class, "Why do you believe this class and Programming and Coding would be interesting to you?"

She shrugs, "I want a little of formality and structure in my time here. I guess the system knows that they'll do the job."

I nod and we continue to talk until the next class comes.

I'm standing with Shiko (and several others) outside of the cafeteria because that's where the note on Professor Amber's door directed us to go. We wait for a couple of minutes until a woman with long brown hair comes around the corner. She's in a short-sleeved, green, button-up shirt with a pair of brown pants.

She greets us with a warm smile and says, "Hello! Sorry to move the class to this spot for the day but we're always busy. Today we're helping the cafeteria staff with reorganizing their stock. The staff may have the time in the afternoon but I don't want them doing it themselves. That's what we're for. We help keep the academy running a little smoother and it helps to understand what effort goes into keeping you guys satisfied."

She leads us to one of the non-student entries to the cafeteria and she guides us to a door in the back of the kitchen. It's a large sized hallway with boxes of supplies lining the walls from a delivery in the morning. There's a door that house a stock of refrigerated/frozen foods and another for items that don't require refrigeration.

Professor Amber opens the doors to both and tells us, "I'll be helping you guys. Read the labels to each container to see which one goes to which store room. We'll probably be doing this twice a week among other things, you'll see."

Shiko and I, among a few others, enter the fridge and look through the containers. Shiko helps me look through several of the box labels and organize them in an order of oldest on top, newest on bottom. We separate already opened boxes and put their supplies together, throwing away the new empty boxes.

Talking amongst ourselves keeps everyone entertained while working, joking about the group of people who're not in the large freezer. Professor Amber helps us organize or change how we're organizing to make access easier. We finish with about ten minutes left and we're lead back to the cafeteria kitchen area. We're given several thanks from the cafeteria staff for our help. They've already prepared us meals for our off period following this one.

Some people are stubborn about paying for it but one of the cooks asks, "So you're going to reject a gift from lovely, older women and break their hearts as they believe that they're only possible offers aren't good enough for aspiring Huntsmen?"

That virtually shuts down everyone's barrier. I chuckle as I see that Shiko would've been one to turn down the free meal. We all sit together at one table and laugh and talk amongst ourselves about the other teachers we have, each others' interests, what all everyone has brought with them to have in their dorms.

I notice a guy out of the group watching Nadeshiko every once in a while when she's not looking and eventually, Carmine and Terra show up to bring us with them for their lunch. We dismiss ourselves from the group and I ask her when we're with the rest of our team, JNPR, and RWBY, "What did you think of that guy that was flirting with you?"

Everyone directs their attention to her, especially Terra, and she blushes, "Wh- What!? A- Are you sure!?"

I chuckle, "Yep. He couldn't keep his eyes off of you. Kept wanting to talk to you only."

Terra cheers, "You go, Nadeshiko! Two days into classes and you're already pulling in guys' attention."

She's extremely red and flustered. Embarrassed by the extra attention I've brought on her. She glares at me and mouths, "I'll get you back" and I shrug and chuckle, mouthing back, "Didn't do anything."

About halfway through our lunch, Shiko asks me, "Which guy was it?"

I shrug, trying to remember, "I think it was Ty… Gale, I'm sure. One of the guys from team MTER" (which stands for meteor, not meter) "You'll know him when you see him again."

She blushes lightly and tries to focus on eating while Terra keeps whispering stuff to her, making Shiko even more flustered. I chuckle to myself and time passes until the next period begins.

Everyone parts ways in pairs, heading to our classes. Terra asks me when no one else can hear her, "Are you alright with Shiko being hit on?"

I give her a surprised and confused look, "What do you mean?"

She chuckles, "You like her, right? I heard you talking to your brother in the morning. I know what it looks like when a guy likes me and you don't have that look around me. You have it when you're near Ruby or Nadeshiko. You get a small smile, you laugh a little more at something they say, your eyes shine."

I get quiet and ask her, "Alright. I like her. No. I don't like her getting flirted with. But what am I going to do about it?"

Terra chuckles, "Well, _you_ could flirt with her. I mean, you do but it's not good enough. Have you like really talked to her?"

I shake my head, "No… not really since day one. I haven't had the chance to, really. I'll try. But, what if I don't-"

She interrupts, "Don't think about failing. If it feels right, do it. You heard her. She likes bold guys and I think that you can be the guy for her."

We reach professor Dhalia's class and walk in. It's a skinny guy with a fitted black suit. His eyes are brown and he has short brown hair slicked to the side, standing with his hands in his pockets and staring ahead of himself. This room is different from virtually all of the other classes. Instead of being a lecture hall or whatever, it's a computer room. He tells us, "Sit down next to your partner anywhere. Plug your Scrolls into the monitor and we can begin."

So probably the strictest teacher I've met so far… He continues as we listen and obey his instructions, "These consoles automatically log you in when you plug in your Scroll. You'll see several applications appear on your screen. We will be using them ALL at certain points during the year. You will learn how to be efficient in several computer languages. You will learn how to create websites, applications, and even how to write and correct lines of code. These skills will allow you to keep and maintain equipment without requiring the deployment of additional personnel."

Man… this guy is very direct. Hasn't even properly introduced himself yet. He hits us with bursts of additional information through his steady stream of speech. I'm following his instructions as he's saying them but Terra's having trouble, "Whoah, Munsell, you actually can keep up with him!?"

I nod, "Yeah, I just know shortcuts and hotkeys. It helps to know the uses of Alt and Ctrl."

She's surprised, "Can you teach me!?"

I'm about to answer and Professor Dhalia stops instructing to focus on us, "You two. Keep any additional chatter to a minimum."

I nod, "Yes, sir."

I whisper to Terra as she regains her lost footing, "I'll teach you later."

She nods and we remain quiet. Other people's requests for him to slow down are ran over by his continuance and I get irritated with him. This won't be a fun class… I can already tell…

We emerge after an hour of irritation and Terra has her fists clenched, "AH! HE PISSED ME OFF SO MUCH!"

I shrug, "Yeah… I wish he wasn't one of _those_ teachers but it truly helps to know your way around a computer."

She sighs, "Yeah… but he still needs to slow down."

I punch the side of her shoulder, "Cheer up. We've got two periods to get past it."

She grins lightly but is still visibly annoyed, "Thanks, Goldie. You're right."

We meet up with the other two in the hallway and head towards Tirrian's room. They seem to be in high spirits because of their cooking class. I'll admit it. A little jealous of Carmine. Of the fact that Carmine's such a great cook!

Professor Tirrian is a man with purple eyes and is surprising in the fact that he's the only teacher we've met wearing only casual clothes. His shirt is black reading, "The Achieve Men" with the same font and style as their other merchandise. He's wearing brown cargo shorts and white tennis shoes.

He claps, "Alright. Welcome to Missions and Assignments. I am Professor Lance Tirrian. Disregard anything that Professor Song has said relating to the topic for those of you who've already had her. She may know a little about what I teach but there are major differences between Search and Destroy missions and Eradication ones. Same goes for Rescue designations and Relief jobs. She doesn't know half of what she's talking about."

Something tells me that those two must have a sort of humorous rivalry going. We continue listening as he speaks, "You will learn about several types of missions throughout the course of the year. Those of you that have other classes that require field days may have their schedule rearranged on a certain day to accommodate the demand. I tend to schedule missions or jobs for students whose teams are required to venture out or to simply allow you kids to have more time to do them. It sounds complicated to explain, but it isn't. You'll just have to see what I mean."

He keeps on, "It's my responsibility to ensure that you know the material, so, each test will be composed of ninety percent of the material you are learning in a given unit with the remainder being over previously taught topics. Anything and everything can be on the test, so even minor details may be important. I hope you all will consider my words before deciding to laze away. You will learn the different materials that you may requisition before jobs, which sort of jobs can be tackled with different numbers of team mates or even teams. That and more. Now. I enjoy listening to everyone's experiences in the forest on initiation day."

He seems to be the kind of teacher with his own momentum and plans. It might seem unorthodox, but it works. His is virtually another, "Settle in for the first week, we're not doing much" kind of class. Just another chance to breathe and learn about everyone else.

Combat Simulation is interesting. Everyone was issued a notice that they may prefer to be in combat gear for the class as sparring sessions are assigned throughout the week. Professor Goodwitch lays down the ground rules, "Welcome. I will be overseeing your required combat sessions amongst yourselves and even some of your missions. It will be a gauge of how capable your teams are and where improvements need to be made. Firstly, participation is required. If you are selected for a session, you have few choices between sparring or receiving a negative mark on your grade. Secondly, while watching other students fight, you may not intervene unless it is absolutely necessary and I cannot take action myself. There will be a meeting held between Professor Ozpin and myself with judgment over your decision. Thirdly, this is the rule that may spark the condition of the second rule to be broken. You will _not_ strike an opponent whose Aura has fallen too deep into the red. Such behavior may see you expelled if repeated multiple times. You will be warned if it is a minor accident, reprimanded for recklessness, but you will face consequences for a serious error. Understood?"

Everyone confirms what she just said and she nods, "Good. Now that that's been explained, we may proceed directly into our first sparring match of the year. Miss Nadeshiko Mila and Aurelio Midas. Please step down to the sparring area."

Me and the rest of RGNT watch as Nadeshiko walks to the stairway from the stands to a doorway that leads to the fighting ground. We wish her luck and I realize who Aurelio is. Team MTER's leader. His hair is a wide, black Mohawk with the hair hanging over the right part of his head where it's shaved the same as the left. His eyes are an intense gold color and his armor is a compact sort.

It's a combat vest with a golden pauldron over his right shoulder, a black metal gauntlet over his right arm, connected to the pauldron by chainmail over his bicep area, the fingers of the gauntlet the same color as the pauldron. His left arm is enveloped in a sleeve of the same black chainmail as on the right, connected to a black metal glove over his left hand that has a considerably large plate with two protruding spikes over the back of it. Aurelio's legs are protected by padded greaves but his shins are protected by metal guards. He seems to have what looks like a black torque bow with yellow strings and trim.

I get excited. Not because of his cool-looking weapon, but because this time I'll be able to actually see Nadeshiko's fighting ability in comparison to our experience in the forest. They're stood equidistant from the center of the floor and Glynda announces, "You may begin."

Immediately, out of nowhere, Aurelio summons a black spike with a red glow around it in his left hand and has it drawn back on his bow's string. He must be using his Semblance to create it because he has no quiver at all to pull out an arrow. He releases the projectile and it heads for Nadeshiko. She's ready for it. She quickly draws her shorter blade, the ninjato, to deflect the projectile and charges with the weapon upside down in her right hand.

I see a gust of white dust behind her and realize that it's snow. Aurelio's apparently not the only one using his Semblance. She quickly closes in on him and attempts to slash him across the chest, his right hand still gripped on his bow. Her attack is interrupted as he's quick to summon a larger spike with his left hand and use it as a small rod to block.

He slides her blade along the spike's length and attempts to stab Nadeshiko's chest but she deflects it with the metal plate on her right hand's gauntlet. In the same instance, she uses her left hand to partially pull her katana from its sheath, attempting to gut-check Aurelio. He's quick to react, using his left hand's plate to block the impact.

He uses the momentum of her attack to pull back his left hand and summon another spike and falls onto his back to aim it for her chest, releasing the string after acquiring his target. Shiko blocks by pulling her two blades in front of her and creating two shields of ice with them, the projectile stopped a couple of inches short of reaching her. He takes the opportunity to drive her back by rolling forward and using the bottom end of his bow as a pike to threaten piercing her with.

Nadeshiko breaks her shield and back flips away from him, using the particles to envelope his arms, slowing his recovery speed down. He struggles for a moment to break free while Nadeshiko charges forward in opportunity, her blades poised to slash him from his left and right. There's the sound of metal on metal and the two fighters are paused in close proximity.

I see that Aurelio's bow is now in two separate halves, one in each hand, blocking both of Nadeshiko's swords. They are virtually identical except it appears like one has a forward-pointing, large spike at the bottom and the other has three smaller ones pointing away. Shiko's surprised but she has no time to block his first successful attack. He delivers the bottom of his foot to her chest, knocking her back, and aims one of his bow's halves at her, pulling a trigger, and it fires the spike at the end towards her, attached to a metallic cable within the bow's frame.

Shiko is quick to deflect the projectile but he follows up by using the other one to fire the triple-spiked item at the end like a barreling flail towards her. She attempts to block, but as soon as it makes contact with her small blade, the spikes erupt from their carrier with their own small wires, wrapping around Shiko as he holsters the other half of his bow.

Aurelio summons spikes like earlier with his left hand and holds them like darts before throwing them one at a time, Shiko restrained by the grip of Aurelio's weapon. Her right arm is by her side and she points the blade at the ground in front of her to summon a thin wall to obscure his aim.

She slides her ninjato between her and the shell for the three prongs and creates a shield that is slowly increasing in size, forcing the strands to stretch and release her. He retracts his weapon and her Aura is in the yellow, his slightly beneath max. Shiko is visibly worn out but she doesn't allow that to stop her. She sheathes her two blades and rotates their handles in a full circle.

Her left hand is positioned with the ninjato's handle upside down in her grip, the other hand gripping the other right under the hilt guard. The next thing I see is Shiko giving her small blade a small tug and she's immediately sent towards Aurelio by a gust of wind like a jet stream. The sound of both her blades leaving their sheaths is audible for a fraction of a second before she starts trying to slice through him.

He blocks well, the sound of metal and sparks flying apparent, but his Aura is dropping with each hit. Then it clicks. Her blades are now using the wind they're generating to pierce his guard, hurting him definitely. He growls and quickly focuses on surviving. He fires the triple-spiked projectile away and it acts as a grappling hook as it pierces one of the walls and pulls him. Shiko attempts to follow behind him with her speed but it was a ploy.

Aurelio stops partially through his trip and uses his bow's other half to anchor himself and meet Shiko's charge with the bottom of one of his feet, using her own momentum against her. This makes her off balance, and he uses the retraction of the flail to snare one of her feet to lift her up. He uses his heel to crush her gut and slam her into the ground, combining his weapons into one again and has an arrow drawn and aimed for her head as he stands over her.

The projectile dissipates and Glynda announces, "Well done, students. You two are excellent examples of how sparring sessions should go."

Aurelio takes his foot off of Shiko's stomach and extends his hand toward her, helping her up, "That was a cool fight."

She nods, "You handled it well."

They both chuckle and come back to the stands, introducing themselves and Shiko comes back to sit with us, her team.

Glynda announces, "Next. Verdice Brine versus Dell Nocturn versus May Somber."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Starting Steps**

 **A/N:** Hey all! Music! Look up 'GHOST P' or 'Ghostie P' on YouTube and listen to some of their songs. Hope that this chapter is good. It's a little shorter than the last but it goes quite a bit more into certain things. So I hope that makes up for it. Again, I leave you so that you may enjoy this chapter.

The match-ups proceed in a random fashion, the maximum number in a sparring session being a four-way. There are no fights where two combatants are allied together versus another pair but I'm sure it's because no one is really familiar with how anyone else on their team operates. We watch the fights, several equally matched, but others, barely a contest. Especially Jaune's versus Terra. She was never even hit but damn if he didn't take the beating well. Goodwitch announces with twenty minutes left in the class, "Munsell Regent. Noel Eglantine. You two are next."

I get up and my squad wishes me luck. My opponent has a shoulder and waist cape hanging from his right hip and shoulder from metal plates. The capes are a bright shade of purple with his emblem on both, a white chevron of sorts. His armor is ballistic padding like my thighs' greaves but only his hip and shoulder are protected by metal plating while his hair is white and combed to the side. His eyes are the same purple as his armor's trim, the main colors of his armor being white and dark grey.

His weapon appears to be an elbow blade on his left arm with a built in revolver. He bows to me after we take our position and I give him a salute before unstrapping Amber King and fitting Amon onto my left hand. Glynda announces, "…And… Begin."

Immediately, Noel aims his revolver at me and fires a loud shot for me. I use a dispersed blast from my rifle to block the round and dash for him while sidewinding to evade incoming shots as I fire. He notices my strategy and reloads by letting go of his revolver to allow it to spin and reload with a different part of his elbow blade that holds additional rounds.

He blocks my laser shots with his blade as a shield, his weapon ejecting a small blade for him to use as a dagger in his right hand. I grab Amber King by part of the stock to block his elbow blade and use the bulk of Amon to avoid knicks or cuts from his knife. I duck under one of his attacks and end up behind him by taking a step forward. I turn and use my grip on Amber King to bash the back of his right Achilles tendon.

Noel falls to the respective knee and I close the gap between us. I wrap my arms around his throat and position my right arm in a way that I can grip his right arm without interrupting my hold, rendering his dagger useless. He attempts to struggle free, his left arm attempting to stab me with the edge of his blade but barely fails.

After a few seconds, a sudden pain reaches my left side, forcing my grip to loosen enough for him to get in an attack. His weapon apparently elongated its blade like a sort of spring-action to stab me. He spins as the blade elongates in the forward direction instead, elbowing me in the bridge of the nose without a chance of the blade causing me harm. But it still deals its damage. He continues his spin, slashing me across the chest with the two blades and deals two kicks: one to knock Amber King away from me and the other to knock me away and put distance between us.

I slam on my back and slowly get up, looking at our Auras. His is two-thirds full while mine is a quarter. I chuckle and place my right hand on one of my pack's batteries, draining a portion for it to act as a medical kit. My Aura is perfectly fine and I equip Barbados in my right hand. I place my hand on my battery again and absorb the rest to use as a supercharger and charge towards him again.

Two of his rounds hit my arms and I quickly tuck them behind me to drain two whole batteries to restore my Aura and boost myself even more. He uses a flash of light that comes from his hands to blind me and I feel his blades slash and dig in. I growl and fight through it as the wounds open past my Aura. I blindly punch with a right hook and connect! He's stunned and my eyesight recovers, ready. I grab his right arm in a triangle with my left arm and force him to let go of the knife.

I pull my head back and use my right hand to grab the back of his, pulling it away from me and slam our foreheads together. Noel lets out a groan of pain but I'm not done. I position my right arm in a way to prevent his elbow blade from posing a threat and drill his body in the torso, finishing it off as a final uppercut that pops some of the bones in his neck and follow up with a right straight to his gut to knock him down and away from me.

He's left seeing stars and I offer my hand to help him up. He takes it and is a little wobbly on his feet. I make sure he's fine and walk over to Amber King and restrap him before returning to my team. Carmine pats my back, "You should've heard everyone when your Aura was recovering. They couldn't understand how but hey, it's why you won."

I nod, "Yeah. Bet he was shocked too. But he did well. I was surprised by how much his Aura helped him survive my boosted punches for so long."

I wasn't entirely satisfied by the level of gunplay I displayed but did enjoy how much physical combat was exerted. It was a rush.

Goodwitch keeps pairing people to fight each other until the class is five minutes from finishing. She announces to everyone, "Alright, students. That was a good display of your potential and I hope each of you is ready for advancement in the future. Some of you may be struggling now but may be become some of the finest students by the end of the year. Of course, that's only with the proper effort. Be sure to visit the armory for a restock of ammunition and for some of their menders to repair any damage done to your weapons or armor. I hope you will be ready for the next hot day. Don't be afraid to approach the counselor or another professor for any problems you may be having. I'm sure they will work with you to ensure that Beacon's standards are not impossible for you to maintain. With that, you are dismissed. Make sure to rest well and maintain your materials. Falling behind can be detrimental."

I like her. Goodwitch comes off as strict and official at first but she really does care. While we're waiting to exit into the hall, Ruby talks to my team and JNPR, apparently having already discussed it with the rest of hers, "Do you guys want to go to the library to hang out and study?"

Everyone confirms their agreement and we stop by our dorms to gather our materials. I notice a small hint of a smile on Weiss's face and decide against saying anything. Of course, she still snaps at her team mates here and there, but the smile returns within a few moments. First thing of importance. Team classes where all of our teams were in attendance, followed by two, then one of the teams. After those, partner classes, with the individual classes ruled as the last to worry about.

When the time to take a break and relax comes, I dial up my brother for another video chat and he picks up, making some dinner in the kitchen, "Yo. Whaddup?"

I reply, "Just here in the library, working with the others."

I turn the camera to everyone else from my end of the tables we've arranged and everyone waves, to which my brother responds, "You guys all look like shit."

I turn it back to myself and tell him, "Hey, we're all busy. We've been working and studying."

He chuckles, turning back to what he's cooking, "Yeah, I figured."

I move my position to where everyone else is behind me so that some of them appear in the shot, "What are you doing, bro?"

He shrugs, not looking at the camera as he focuses on flipping something, "Cooking some chops. Having pasta and mashed potatoes with it. How're things over there?"

I shrug as Shiko and Carmine walk over behind my shoulders to look at the screen, "A lot of adjustment so far. Some of the classes are fine but others are already kickin' our asses."

He notices my partners and asks, "I know Carmine, so is she part of your team?"

Shiko nods, "Yes. I'm Nadeshiko Mila and your brother's an excellent leader. Oh! And fighter too! You should see him!"

He chuckles, "What lies have you been feeding that girl, bro?"

I snap at him humorously, "Hush, you! You can't really believe I'm that much of an egomaniac!"

I've attracted the attention of Ruby and Weiss who're now on the outside edges of my camera. Ruby asks, "Oh, is that your brother!? Hi, Munsell's brother!"

He waves on the other side of the call, "Hi. Sterling. Friends of yours? Oh, wait! You're Weiss Schnee, aren't you!?"

She's surprised, "How do you know who I am?"

He replies, focusing on the camera after his meal is ready to be served, "Oh, I was contacted by your family to find someone capable of training people with their Semblance and aura way back when. It was probably two years after I'd begun my work and word of my capabilities must've reached them."

We continue listening, everyone surprised by his story, "But I didn't think it would've been a nice environment for Munsell, attending a military school or something, just would've created some complications. I didn't take the job, despite the discussion behind such a decision between myself and Munsell and between me and your father. He only asked me to consider it for a day and we would discuss it one more time and after the talk, then I could tell him my decision."

Everyone's quiet and Sterling breaks the muteness, serving his meal and sitting at a table, "So, why are you all friends with my brother? I thought he'd be too obsessed with improving himself to have any other friends than Carmine."

I'm about to snap at him again but Ruby says something before I'm able to, "Oh, Carmine came and talked to me and Jaune the day before we met Munsell. Jaune and I are both other team leaders so it was actually a coincidence for him to be part of Munsell's team when he introduced him on the day of initiation."

Shiko adds, "I met him and Carmine before initiation. I just happened to become Carmine's partner and in turn, Munsell's team mate."

I'm about to say something myself but I feel something drill into the back of my head followed by an irritated yell, "Yo, Goldie! You forgot to teach me computer shortcuts!"

My face slams the desk and I pick my head back up after experiencing a sharp pain across the bridge of my nose and in my eyes, covering them with one of my hands, the other still gripped on my Scroll, "AGH! TERRA, I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF A CALL!"

I reach for one of my batteries just in case there's any damage and Sterling laughs, "Girlfriend?"

She shakes her head, "Nope. Worse. Partner. Terra Storm."

He tilts his head and makes a pointing gesture, "You're lucky! I'd hate to imagine the future girl that'll fit the bill."

I growl at him as everyone else on the call laughs. When everyone's calmed down, Sterling tells us after swallowing a mixed bite of all of his served items, "You guys take care. Treat Munsell right, he'll treat you better. I'm out. Night."

Everyone waves and Ruby comments, "I like your brother. He seems cool."

I nod, "Yeah. I'm glad he was alright with me coming here. Alright Terra. Let's get started. First, CtrlW will help you optimize your computer's lighting and processing speed."

She's using one of the library's laptops and exclaims, "WHAT!? THAT JUST TOOK ME OUT OF EVERYTHING!"

I chuckle, "That's for hitting me. CtrlH will bring back your history. Let's get started."

So what with helping Terra, helping the others with their classes, covering my individual assignments, eating dinner with our materials in the cafeteria, and taking breaks, it's nine by the time we finish. We're all about to return back to our dorms but Weiss tells everyone, "Can you guys go ahead? I want to talk to Munsell about something first."

Everyone is alright with going, except Yang comments, "Don't let her freeze you, Munsell!"

Weiss shoots her some daggers with her eyes but eventually, everyone's gone. Weiss asks me as we walk together again, "Why did your brother not accept my dad's offer?"

I'm a little caught off-guard by her question and focus, "Uhm… I remember he got the call and was excited by the offer. I was… eight. This was when he was seventeen. He wasn't concerned with the money. He was concerned about me. I told him that he could do anything he wanted. I wasn't bothered with moving around but he didn't like the way Atlas life was compared to how we'd been living. What with me only 'recently', and by 'recently' I mean a year, having become tame and focused on art, he didn't want any of that creativity converted into conformity. He was looking at a healthier life for me, I guess."

Weiss nods, "I had a lot growing up. My father wanted everything that would make me 'better'. He was looking for a teacher and that could've easily been your brother. I can't imagine that so much could be so different if something as small as who one of my teacher's were someone like your brother."

I shrug, "Yeah… it's a bewildering thing sometimes. So how did it go last night with Ruby?"

She blushes a little and her steps almost change, hesitating a moment, "Your… advice… -"

The last part is virtually inaudible. I chuckle, "Come on, Weiss, you're usually more verbal in something as small as calling Ruby a dolt. I know you can speak higher than that!"

She snaps, "Your advice helped!"

I chuckle and she calms down, "I saw how dedicated Ruby was to being here. She had written so much for notes yesterday and I was amazed."

I chuckle, "Yeah, Carmine was doing the same thing."

She smiles lightly, "And it made me believe that she could be an excellent leader. She just needs to mature a _little_ bit."

We walk together until I deliver Weiss to her team's room before heading into mine. I lay down and sigh, "Man… I'm so worn out. Everything's done… now time to sleep. But first, a shower."

I get my stuff ready and enter the bathroom and spend about ten minutes before being done and coming out. Terra enters next and Carmine's busy doing something on his Scroll while using his headphones and I realize that this is a great moment to talk to Nadeshiko. I ask her, "For how long have you been writing your book?"

She looks up from her computer and stops typing, probably something for her book, and tells me, "It's been… about a year and a half. I'm about halfway through."

I raise a brow, "Is that usually how long it takes?"

She shrugs, "I don't know. This is my first one. I mean, I'd be farther if I had more free time before now, what with home responsibilities and other activities."

I nod a little and follow-up, "Why write? What was the reason you decided to write with the premise you have?"

She smiles lightly at my second question, "Haven't been asked that before… 'Why write?' Hmm… well… I was always interested in books and thought that it's great that there are so many books but eventually some of those are forgotten. I just wanted to put mine in that stream of time."

She continues, "Well… I guess that's also why I wanted to write this story. Time is tied into it immensely and I guess it could be my want being expressed through the story."

We grow quiet and she asks me, a tone of caution in her voice, "Ho- How did… your parents die?"

I'm sort of prepared for it, in all honesty, "They were vacationing. Don't remember where, Sterling never brought it up a second time. A massive Grimm attack happened there. Apparently, the city they visited had been in a state of economic turmoil for two years. The feelings of the residents must've culminated into a high enough level to attract so many for the attack to have occurred. They were Huntsmen themselves, but there was virtually no escape for them. They didn't have the equipment to get out quickly. So they fought until they were the last to fall."

Shiko looks down and away from me on her bed, "I'm… sorry."

I shake my head, "You don't need to be. My mom always believed in things happening because they were meant to. So, I kind of adopted that mind set. If them dying was to steel myself and my brother, then we're definitely some of the tougher people in the world for it."

She asks, "Is your brother a Huntsman?"

I make an iffy gesture with my hand, "Kind of? He isn't a Huntsman by establishment standards but he can accept missions. He didn't go to an academy when he was seventeen like I am. He told my parents when he was sixteen, a year before they died, that he was going to work helping people. They were alright with it and he started working at sixteen. He knew being a Huntsman payed well, but he knew his job also would if he made the right contracts and jobs. Our lives were always comfortable wherever we went. Now he's somewhat known around some areas, so he can make contracts with higher ranking families and individuals."

She nods her understanding and asks, "Why do you do art?"

I scratch the back of my head, "Well… when I was young, it was an outlet. Growing up after that, I understood why my mom enjoyed it. You could make something and so many people could look at it in different ways or even imagine a story. It stirs something in someone and it always feels wonderful to see how people think about something you've done. And I got pretty great at it too so that's a good reason to do it."

Shiko smiles lightly and asks, "You ever use it to impress girls?"

I blush, "Uh-Uhm… no. I never did. I'm sure my mural got some heads to turn my way but I never had the time for a relationship."

She giggles for a moment and tells me, "I was joking with you!"

I make a confused shrug and gesture with my hands, "Aaalriight? I take people seriously all the time! Don't blame me."

Shiko puts her computer aside, seeing how she's in this conversation and doing nothing on it, "So how did you think of your weapon?"

I look at my rifle lying next to the head of my bed and tell her, "It was something that always fascinated me. I know lasers are light and I can't help but say that what Amber King fires are lasers but they're not. A laser is made of light but what my rifle fires are concentrated energy beams. In video games, I disliked having limited ammo. My brother let me play mature games, and my parents did too, just as long as I didn't act violently. I wanted something that would let me have infinite ammo. Thus the idea of Amber King was born. My dad had always talked about energy this and energy that and even had a few blueprints for certain systems lying around our house."

Shiko's listening intently as I continue my rant, "I looked at them a lot and learned quite a bit for someone my age back then and asked Sterling when I was eleven if we could make it happen. I had my own blueprints and everything. He helped correct some parts of it and modified the design and over the course of two years, he acquired the resources we needed for it."

She asks after she realizes that I'm done, "Where did 'Amber King' come from?"

I chuckle, "If I were born a girl, my parents would've named me 'Amber' instead of 'Munsell'. Two different shades of yellow, like my eyes are a brighter yellow than munsell but they liked how it sounded. Well, my parents wanted to have a daughter but they never had the chance. They would've named her 'Amber' so I took it upon myself to name a child of my own creation with their wishes. The king part is because you look at other people's energy weapons and their ammo is limited by the charge in the battery. Mine don't. They recharge using a process, thus, making my rifle the best of its class of weapon: the king."

I ask her, "Your weapons? How do they work?"

She grabs her swords from their stand and tosses the larger one to me in its sheath. She tells me, "They're virtually identical except one's smaller. The sheaths are hollowed out near the base where the sword handles are to allow the use of dust without taking out the weapon."

I examine the sheath and there're four holes in it, two in front and the back. Shiko continues, "Both blades have a trigger in their hand guard that lets me use their dust. There is a part of the guard, opposite the trigger, that can be slid away from the handle, allowing it to rotate in a circle. There're two modes: control of ice and air. The handle clicks into place when it aligns in one of the two positions, the hilt also clicking. The bottom of the handle has two ejection slides, which are actually kind of hard to pull. Each one is for the two dust modules I need to use in each blade. One is colored blue for the ice and the other green for the wind. They glow to show which mode the blade is in."

I look and sure enough, the blue orb at the bottom of the blade is glowing. I move every part that she mentioned, except the trigger, and really examine the blade. I ask her, "Their names?"

She replies, "Nadeshiko and Sheena."

I'm confused, "You named your sword after yourself?"

Shiko giggles and shakes her head, "No! My sister did. You're holding Nadeshiko right now. I named this one after her because I couldn't think of anything. But I now realize how important of a pair we are to each other."

My heart's beat picks up a little after knowing I've been handling and analyzing this sword quite liberally without knowing its name. I'm suddenly subconscious about how I have it across my lap and a few inappropriate thoughts cross my mind involving its owner in place of the sword, making me blush extremely red. I pick the blade up with both hands and hold it out away from me and return it to the stand. Nadeshiko follows behind, doing the same with Sheena, and asks, "Are you alright?"

I nod, "Y-Yeah! YEAH! I'm alright! Just… whooo… is it hot in here?"

She shrugs and I look at the AC for the room. Seventy-five degrees. I turn it down to seventy and we both sit down on our beds again, Nadeshiko sitting cross-legged, her left hand between her legs, her right hand against her cheek with her elbow resting somewhere along the thigh and knee of her right leg. I'm sitting with my feet on the ground, my hands by my sides on the bed.

She asks me, "What exactly is your Semblance?"

I reply, "Oh yeah! I've been meaning to tell you and Terra about it. I can transfer energy in different ways. My batteries can act as portable conduits to heal myself through powering my Aura or make my attacks more powerful by boosting my Aura. I can heal others but can't boost them. It keeps my rifle charged too and I can overload shots if I have enough energy. If I get hurt, I can alter how much my Aura absorbs the damage or redirect it into energy, which hurts me. But hey, I can heal so taking a little damage to end a fight quicker is always a great option."

She's surprised, "How did you discover that?"

I look down at my right hand, away from her, and become a little quieter, "I was very big on self-harm when my parents died. I wanted to just punch… everything. Something that would just crumble if I hit it. But I didn't care if I didn't break something with a punch. I was a kid. I knew I didn't have that kind of power. Or so I thought."

Nadeshiko's quiet as I continue, "It was about a week after Sterling told me that our parents weren't coming back from their vacation. I was mad at him. Them. The vacation. The people who told us they were sorry. I ran. I ran from home for two days. I was at an old building that had a brick wall as a barrier between it and nature and I figured that it would be a good thing to punch. So I did it. And I kept punching."

I recall the details of my discovery, "I began breaking through it after about the twentieth punch. Each hit left a slightly bigger indentation until I got through. I punched different parts of the wall, each one earning more dust than the last. But then my hands felt like they were hurting and I looked at them. They were bleeding big time along the space of the backs of the hands to the knuckle to the first joint after the knuckles. I was mad at myself for being such a kid and in my anger, I hit the wall again. I punched through it to a fuse box I didn't know was on the other side."

Shiko's quiet and asks, "What happened?"

I shrug and tell her, "I got shocked. Not in an electrical sense. The emotional one. My hands weren't hurting after I hit the fuse box. They felt normal. They were just covered in blood and dust. When someone found me, they took me to some nice officers who were concerned for my well-being. They asked if someone did that to my hands and I nodded and told them it was me."

I remember their surprise, "They wanted to know everything. I told them I ran away because my brother made me mad. That my parents died. That it was everyone's fault. I told them I just wanted to hit something and that wall was a perfect dummy. They wanted to know where this wall was and I told them it was 'X old building'. They went to building 'X' and saw my destruction. They took pictures and told my brother that it was incredible that I wasn't dead. The property was scheduled for deconstruction anyway so there was no real harm. My brother apparently figured out that it was my Semblance. He helped me how to learn it and control it."

Nadeshiko's quiet for a moment and tells me, "That sounds scary. I'm glad that you turned out alright."

I nod, "Yeah. Same here. How about you? What's your Semblance?"

She makes snowflakes fall from her hand and tells me, "I can make some stuff out of ice and freeze things. Bigger and more complicated things drain me more though. That's why I use my weapons as tools to improve my capabilities. That's about it."

I chuckle, "Sounds decent. How'd you figure it out?"

She giggles thinking back, "I always froze cups of water when I touched them at some point when I was six. My mom was always baffled because she never saw me do it. I didn't want to get in trouble so I didn't tell her it was me. One day, she served me some water in a thick glass cup and I didn't realize what I was doing until I drank from it. I took one gulp and the second mouthful after that had become frozen in my mouth, attached to the rest of the mass in the cup. I tried to put it down but it pulled my head too. My mom was turned away from me when the cup slid off of the cup-shaped ice. I was crying but the sound my mouth made was blubbery. She couldn't help but laugh at me, which only made me blubber more."

I laugh at her story to the point where I'm crying and she makes a pouty face at me. Terra finishes her shower, coming out and drying her hair with a towel, "What's so funny?"

Shiko glares at me with slit eyes and tells her, "Nothing."

She gets up and goes to the shower with her stuff and Terra asks, "What was it?"

I hold up a finger for silence until I hear the shower start up before I relay to her the story Shiko just told me. Soon enough, she's laughing as hard as I was, myself joining in on the humor because it's even funnier to have someone around for the second time. It felt great to talk to Nadeshiko and learn more about her. Things didn't get that awkward either, so that's a plus. I hope I can keep this up. I really enjoy her company.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **Progression**

It's about a month into the school year. We're in Goodwitch's class again, five minutes before the class is over and the two currently fighting are Jaune and Cardin. It doesn't look like Jaune's doing well at all… I mean, he has somewhat improved, actually landing a few hits on other people in some fights, but Cardin's ruthlessness is too much. He has a scorn for Jaune or something, not letting him even deliver a strike.

His distaste for Jaune is obvious, as he laughs and makes yawning gestures or other actions that frustrate or irritate Jaune. I let out a growl of disgust and Shiko asks, "What's wrong?"

I pop my knuckles, "Nah… It's nothing. Just that Cardin guy."

She pats my back, "Yeah. I know how you feel. He's an ass."

I turn to her, chuckling, "Never heard you curse before!"

She blushes a little, "Yeah… well, he kind of deserves it."

I nod my agreement and turn back to focus on the fight. At the moment, Jaune's hunched over, taking a breather, trying to recover from his previous assault on Cardin. At least Cardin's letting him take a break. I doubt he'd consider doing that for anyone else.

Jaune charges, yelling as he runs, trying to slash across Cardin's chest but his attack is predictable. Cardin sidesteps and Jaune meets nothing. Cardin swipes for Jaune but his shield is at least readied to absorb the blow. It barely helps as Jaune is launched a few meters away, his shield flying out of his left hand. Jaune tries to attack vertical again, blocked by the length of Cardin's weapon.

It looks like a struggle of power and with Jaune's current condition, it doesn't seem like he's going to win. Cardin seems aware of it, telling him, "This is the part where you lose."

Jaune doesn't surrender, even in the face of certain defeat, "Over my dead—"

He's cut short and groans after receiving a knee from Cardin's right leg, hunching over at the loss of air. He drops his weapon and Cardin towers over him, ready to deliver a final blow, only to be stopped by Goodwitch, "Cardin, that's enough."

She takes this moment to remind everyone of how fights operate, "Students, as you can see, Mister Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-style duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle and that the official may call the match. Mister Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you to decide when it is appropriate to attack or when it is better to move to a more… defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now would we?"

Cardin seems a little annoyed to hear Goodwitch fiving a lecture right after his fight was interrupted, "Speak for yourself."

Goodwitch continues without a loss in step, "Remember everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing. Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale."

The bell rings and everyone starts to file out slowly. My team walks out with RWBY, a minute after, we're joined by JNPR. We head to the cafeteria for a sort of early dinner. When everyone's settled, Nora starts to spin a story for us. She starts off quietly, trying to build suspense, "So. There we were… in the middle of the night."

Ren makes a remark, "It was day."

Nora continues, "We were surrounded by Ursi."

Ren interjects again, "They were Beowolves."

Nora exclaims, something that everyone's grown accustomed to, no longer reacting, "DOZENS OF THEM!"

Ren sounds a little bothered by the extra attention Nora's drawing, because some people are still interested, "Two of them."

Nora seems to lose no pace at all, "But they were no match, and in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs."

Ren sighs, "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."

Pyrrha turns her attention to her leader, "Jaune, are you okay?"

He's a little distracted but, "Huh? Oh, yeah. W-Why?"

Ruby's even concerned, "It's just that you seem a little… not okay."

He attempts to appease their concern, "Guys, I'm fine! Seriously, look!"

He gives a thumbs up that isn't very convincing, nor is the nervous chuckle he gives with it. He squeezes his glove and Pyrrha voices an observation, "Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school."

Jaune plays dumb, "U-Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah, he just likes to mess around, y'know, practical jokes!"

Ruby states, "He's a bully."

Jaune shrugs it off, "Oh please, name one time he's 'bullied' me."

I've been listening this whole time and I ask my team, "You guys remember, right?"

Carmine nods, "He makes you drop your books."

Terra points with her fork before eating her steak, "He made your shield open up and get you stuck in Oobleck's doorway."

Shiko giggles, "He launched you once too."

Jaune tries to lower the level of Cardin's actions, "I didn't land far from the school."

Pyrrha continues to offer assistance, "Jaune, you know if you ever need help you can just ask!"

Nora becomes excited, "Ooo! We'll break his legs!"

Jaune just shrugs us off, "Guys, really, it's fine. Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."

Our attention is grabbed by an example that proves Jaune's point, "OW! That hurts!"

Cardin has his right hand gripped on one of Violet's (a pretty cool second year Faunus that's in team CFVY) rabbit ears. I growl in frustration again and Terra puts her hand against my back, "Don't do anything. I asked Goodwitch if I could fight him next week. I've got it."

I sigh and tell her, "Alright. That's fine. I'm sick of that punk."

Jaune leaves, telling us, "I'm headed back to the dorm. You guys can do whatever."

He must still be a little bothered. I ask NPR, "Have Jaune's fighting skills always been… less than… ideal?"

Pyrrha blushes a little, "Yes… they have been… since we first met him."

Nora adds, "He's pretty good at dodging! But he stinks at the rest…"

She laughs at the end of her statement and Carmine chuckles, "He couldn't even land a hit on Terra!"

Terra nods, "Yeah… it's kind of awkward when you guys remind me of it. But next time… I want to fight him when he's actually a little more capable."

Shiko adds, concerned, "We need to help him… even if it's a little bit."

Ruby chimes, "Yeah, but how can we do that?"

I chuckle, "Terra's going to beat up Cardin, so that might cheer him up a little."

Pyrrha asks, "But what are we really going to do?"

I shrug, "Well, you're his partner… right?"

She's confused, "Yes. What do you mean by that?"

I make an 'I don't know' gesture with my hands and tell her, "Well, you could… like… train him, right? I mean, you are an expert of sorts, so surely he can learn something from you. Unless… you wouldn't want to train him."

She waves her hands, "No, no! Of course. I'll see what I can do to help him."

I give her a thumbs up and get up myself, "Well, I'm headed back to the dorm. I'm looking forward to the weekend and I want to get ahead of the chance to relax."

Terra chirps up, "Actually, can you and I hang out a bit first before then?"

I shrug, "Sure thing, partner? Where we headed?"

I follow her as we throw away our garbage and I wave bye to everyone else. We head outside and Terra asks me, "How's it been going with Ruby and Nadeshiko?"

I scratch the back of my head, "Well… I'm going shopping with Ruby tomorrow. Said she wanted to check out a sale at some weapons place. As for Shiko, I'm going out with her to buy some stuff for our dorm."

Terra chuckles, "Yeah, but how's it going with them?"

I shrug, "I don't know, really… I mean, I've been flirting with both of them but nothing serious. It's… awkward when I think about it because it feels out of character for me. Have you seen that Ty dude? He's so much more confident about it…"

Terra nods, "What if… I told you a secret?"

I turn to her and look out at the evening sun as we keep walking, "Don't think it'd change much."

She chuckles, "I believe it will. I've talked to both Ruby and Nadeshiko about you."

That gets me to raise a brow and I shrug, "Alright? So what's so big about it?"

She tells me, "I asked them both, separately, if they would mind dating you and you know what they said?"

I'm intrigued, hell, she has my full attention. My heart's practically racing in my chest, "Wh- What did they say?"

She chuckles, "Well, Nadeshiko tried to deny that she likes you and I just reminded her about day one and why she was so flustered to know what you were looking for in a girl. That shut her down and she admitted that she wouldn't mind, that she'd actually be pretty happy. As for Ruby… whew, that was a much harder nut to crack."

I'm confused, "What do you mean?"

We're headed for one of the edges of the school grounds, overlooking the city, "She didn't admit to liking you at first. And her being near her sister a lot of the time made it hard to ask her questions about dating. And when I finally got the chance to, she answered with neutral responses, like what kind of guy she liked, or how many boys had asked her out. It wasn't until I started to ask questions in relation to you that she'd take a little longer to answer, or that she'd blush lightly, or she'd trip on a word, or that she tried a little too hard to make it sound like she wasn't interested in you. Eventually I broke her down when I played a joke on her."

I'm curious, "What did you do?"

She chuckles, "I may or may not have used some of what Professor Dhalia taught us to send her a message that looked like it was from you."

I blush a little. I know I should be mad that she used what he taught us for a prank, but what I ask next is selfish, "What did she do?"

Terra continues, "I arranged for her to meet 'you' and showed up at the meeting place a little after she arrived. She was surprised and I asked her why she was out so late. She tried to play it dumb but I showed her the message on my Scroll and she admitted it. She and I talked for a while after that, but she said she would like to date someone like you. So you now know that they're both fine with dating you. Now why don't you ask one of them on a REAL date?"

I rub my chin and mouth, and tell her, "Don't know. I guess… I'm just afraid to make a fool of myself at some point and completely mess it all up."

She shakes her head, "There you go shutting yourself down before you even start. Just do your best! There's nothing wrong with making a fool of yourself. Any girl that can't forgive you and try to make things work out isn't worth you."

I scratch the back of my neck and ask her, "Why are you doing this?"

She shrugs, "I don't know. Honestly."

She walks at a faster pace ahead of me and I follow behind. I tell her, "You know. One day. I'll repay you the favor somehow. I'll pay you back."

She turns back to me as we get to the doors into the dorm building, "I hope so!"

She walks ahead of me and holds the door open for me when we reach our dorm and digs her elbow into my ribs when she notices that Carmine's in the shower and Shiko's distracted with cleaning her swords. She mouths to me, "Ask her out!"

I'm surprised and reply silently, "Now?"

She nods, and walks over to her bed, saying hello to Shiko. Terra puts on her headphones and acts busy with her phone. I walk nervously over to my bed and tell Nadeshiko, "Hey, I'd like to make our plans on Sunday a little longer."

She looks up from Sheena after sheathing it and raises a brow, "Hmm? How? What do you mean?"

No turning back now! I try to keep calm, even though I know she wouldn't hold any objections, "Uh- Uhm… I would like… to… take you to go watch a movie?"

She's a little confused, and blushes, earning the same change in my cheeks, "Wh-What do—I mean… at what time? What movie?"

In the next second, all of this goes through my mind. "What movie!? Something funny!? We're only friends right now, right, so no romance!? But does it need romance to get further than that!? What about Ruby!? What if we advance further than 'friends'? What happens then!? NO! You're overreacting… It's just a first date kind of deal. It's probably not anything that'll take you any further. Yeah. Just go with a comedy. That'd work."

I tell her normally, "A comedy or something, I guess. I mean, if there's nothing wrong with it for you."

She shakes her head, "No! Yeah! That's fine. In the evening or when do you have planned?"

I scratch the back of my head and tell her, "We could look at some of the times. I was just planning on it being as late as possible before the bulkhead returned to the school."

She nods to me, "Yeah. That sounds cool. I'd like that."

I smile internally and get a notification on my Scroll. It's a message from Ruby, asking if we'd like to come hang out for the night. Carmine comes out of the shower and I ask my team, "You guys want to go hang out with team RWBY?"

He shakes his head, "Nah. I'm already tanked. You guys can go."

I turn to Terra and bump her arm with my knuckle because she didn't hear me past her headphones. I show her my phone's screen and she shakes her head, "Nah. I've got to finish two other homework assignments. Shiko, you?"

She nods, "Yeah, sure. I'd like to come."

I nod, "Alright, let me check one thing."

I reply to Ruby's message, "Hang for a few hours or a spend the night kind of deal?"

She responds, "spend the nite" and I tell Nadeshiko, "It's a spending the night kind of thing."

I fill up one of my bags with a change of clothes and get changed into night clothes in the closet. Shiko comes out of the bathroom with her own bag and I grab my laptop with my bag and we head out. I knock on the RWBY dorm room and am greeted by Blake in a sort of kimono like Nadeshiko's, "Hey."

I give her a two finger salute in response and walk in, noticing her team mates also in their sleep attire, "Yo, Blake."

I set my bag aside and out of the way, putting my laptop on their bookshelf, "I brought that to play movies. I have a few on it."

It's only seven in the evening so we have quite a bit of time. I ask them, "What are we watching? A slasher, comedy, action movie, the newest installment to a superhero franchise? The options are pretty varied."

Ruby exclaims, "Action!"

Blake, "I guess the superhero one."

Yang, "I agree with Blake."

Weiss is busy with her Scroll, "I'm not watching."

Nadeshiko, "I'm up for anything."

I nod as I open the laptop and start searching through my folders for my movies. I find what we're looking for and Ruby tells us, "I'll be right back! I'm going to get us some popcorn!"

She dashes out of the door and I get the movie fast-forwarded to the beginning of the actual film. Ruby enters about two minutes later with a pretty large bowl filled with popped corn. Weiss is in her bed but I position myself with my laptop facing away to not disturb her. Nadeshiko and Ruby sit next to me while Blake and Yang take spots on the bed. I make a comment, "I like the bunks. Whose idea?"

Ruby waves her hand a little, "Me. We wanted to make room for our stuff, I came up with a solution."

I nod approval and ask Weiss, "You sure you don't want to watch the movie?"

She waves her hand, not even looking our way, "No. I'm fine."

I shrug, "Suit yourself."

I start the movie and we begin watching. Everything goes along pretty well. Heck, I'm even surprised that Weiss joins us about halfway through, under the excuse that 'our noise didn't allow her to concentrate, so she may as well watch too'. About a fifth of the popcorn remains and I ask, "What next?"

Yang shakes her head, "Nuh-uh. Let's take a break from movies and play a game."

Ruby complains, "Yang, you're too competitive!"

She tells everyone except for Yang, "You guys don't have to listen to her."

I'm curious and don't want to seem rude to Yang, "What game?"

She chuckles, "A spin the bottle game of truth or dare."

I turn to Nadeshiko and she tells me, "Well… we can't watch movies the whole time."

I tell Yang, "Yeah, we're cool with it."

Weiss groans, "Yang, are you seriously suggesting we play such a childish game?"

Yang laughs, "Ha, you can't tell me you don't want to either."

Weiss actually seems to consider it for a second while Yang quickly turns to Ruby and Blake, "You guys? You in?"

Blake shrugs, "Sure. You're probably not going to leave us alone until we join in."

Ruby gives a thumbs up, "Yup. I'm in."

Yang turns to Weiss once more who then nods confirmation of being included in the game's line-up. Yang grabs an empty glass bottle and tells everyone, "Alright, rules. First, simple rules. Everyone's going to draw a piece of paper. Five are blank, one has a circle. The person with the circle spins the bottle first. If it lands on someone, they choose truth or dare. We all know this. If they choose dare, you give them a dare. They pick truth, you ask them a question, they have to answer. Also, you can only pick truth one out of every three times. You can pick dare as much as you want but that doesn't earn you extra times to pick truth."

Yang holds out a mug with the slips of paper and everyone draws one. Suspense builds as I show mine, "Blank."

Shiko, "Blank."

Blake, "Also blank."

Yang, "Hey! I got the circle!"

She spins the bottle and it points at me and I don't even think about it. I just jump the gun and quickly shoot out, "Dare."

Weiss is a little hesitant about having joined, "What happens if we can't do a dare?"

Yang chuckles, "That's why we have Munsell."

Now it's my turn to feel uncomfortable. Maybe I should've contemplated my choice a bit more… I voice my confusion, "What do you mean by that?"

The brawler waves a hand casually, "You always carry your batteries, right? They're like your version of Ruby's cape."

I nod, "Yeah, so?"

She chuckles, "Have you ever licked your batteries?"

I shake my head, "No… I've never even thought of doing that before."

Yang's voice becomes a little more serious, "I dare you to lick the end of one of your batteries."

I almost laugh at her but realize that's her legitimate dare. And there's no other option. I sigh and take one of my batteries out of my pack and hold it up for everyone to see. I bring it up to my mouth and my hand shakes just a little. I've seriously never done this before. Everyone's quiet and staring, even Ruby's silent. Yang chuckles, "Come on, Munsell. Don't be chicken."

I point at her with my left hand, "Hey. Shush. I'm building proper suspense."

I pull the battery up to my mouth and stretch out my tongue. I keep pulling it closer slowly, so as not to make a large portion of my tongue go over the metallic bit at once. The sensation.

It's like a taser (I'd guess) to my mouth. It sends a shock through the rest of my maw, my bones tingling as it goes to the root of the teeth and tingles them in an unpleasant way. I can taste ozone in my mouth. I drop the battery and hold a hand over my mouth to stop my pained yelp from being anything loud. My eyes are wide and Yang is laughing as if she expected it to be that bad. Even Blake's giggling a little. Nadeshiko asks me, "Are you alright?"

I shake my head rapidly, as if to shake off a chill and grab the bottle, "Yeah… I'm good. Just… whoo. Man that was a surprise. So I guess that must be what we have to do if we can't do the original dare."

I give the bottle a good spin and it lands on Ruby. I ask her, "What'll it be?"

She gives me an impish look, "Dare."

I think for a little bit and say, "Have Weiss lead you down the hall and back-"

She gets up and laughs, "Ha! That's it? Come on, Weiss."

She grabs the heiress's hand and I hold up a finger, "with your hood backwards over your face. And since you didn't let me finish… um… we're gonna spin you for ten seconds and she'll guide you with her voice."

This earns a giggle from Nadeshiko and Blake, Yang remarking, "Hehe, and you said I'm competitive."

Ruby snaps back in the fashion that a younger sibling would to teasing, "Well you are."

We head out to the hall and Ruby puts on her hood above her pajama shirt. I make sure it's sealed well enough and start to spin her as Nadeshiko counts using her Scroll's stopwatch, "One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten."

Ruby's a little wobbly and everyone else is sort of quietly chuckling at her current predicament. I point Weiss to the further wall from us and she walks all the way down to the end. She calls out to Ruby (who happens to be pointed the wrong way), "This way, you dolt."

Ruby stiffens a little, "Uh-Uhm, I knew that!"

She turns around carefully, her arms a little out to keep her balance and I wave my hand for the others to come close, excluding Weiss. I whisper, "I didn't say it would be easy. We're going to be obstacles."

I walk past Ruby and get down on all fours and Weiss changes her instruction from 'keep going' to 'go… right'. Ruby exclaims, confused, "Go right!?"

Weiss gets a little annoyed, "Yes, just listen to me."

She listens to her partner and starts moving towards the right, Yang moving to the left to go around me before getting in front of Ruby who keeps walking. At the last second, Yang holds her hand out, her fingers gripping Ruby's 'face', to which the hooded girl cries out and dodges away from into the wall, "Who was that? What is this?"

Blake chuckles, apparently not joining in the torture of the younger girl, "That's the wall."

Ruby relaxes, "Oh… I swear, Munsell, I'm going to get you back!"

I chuckle, "Oh, well you better hope you spin the bottle with enough luck."

She slowly gets back up and Nadeshiko comes up behind Ruby, blowing a chill down her neck, earning a shiver from Ruby with a panicked voice, "HoOoOOoo cold… cold… cold…"

I laugh and get ahead of Ruby again and stand normal. I only tell her, "Don't trip. Duck."

Ruby's a little disorientated by my false commands trying to step over something nonexistent and duck under another obstacle that isn't there. Weiss tells her, "He's lying, I told you 'listen to me'."

Ruby apologizes and keeps going, undisturbed as I deem my last 'interference' to be enough. Yang, Shiko, and myself are each laughing amongst ourselves as Ruby keeps walking as though she's anticipating some trap, questioning Weiss's guidance. She reaches the same point as her team's dorm and I tell her, "Alright. You're done."

She takes off the hood and punches me in the arm, "You're mean."

I shrug, "Well, it was either that or the alternative."

We head back into the RWBY dorm and gather around the bottle on the floor. Ruby spins it and we watch as it slows down and points to Weiss, "Truth or dare, Weiss?"

Weiss thinks for a second and replies, "Truth."

Yang fake yawns, "Lame."

Weiss gives her a glare before Ruby asks, "Have you ever been in a relationship?"

Weiss blushes a little and stammers, "Wh-Why do you have to ask something like that?"

Blake shrugs, "It was bound to happen to someone."

Yang laughs, interested, "Oh, so she must've not had any yet!"

Weiss is blushing, "Quiet, you! No… No. I have not been in a relationship. Most of my life has been spent under watch. Not many people get close, especially guys, and those that do wouldn't be my first pick. So, moving on."

She spins the bottle and it lands pointing at Yang, "Your turn, Yang. Truth or dare."

Yang points at her, "Dare."

Weiss thinks for a moment and says, "Um… what's your comfort limit?"

She shrugs, "Anything really. We have the battery as an alternative, though. So just in case it goes a little too far, I'd lick it."

Weiss waves her hand for Yang to get closer and whispers in her ear. Yang asks me, and then looks at everyone else, stressing the second half, "Are you comfortable with… physical contact?"

I scratch the back of my head, "Ah… I guess. I mean, it adds fun, right? I might not think of something along those lines because I don't want to seem like a creeper or something."

She nods and walks over to me and sits in my lap and places my arms around her waist. She curls into my chest and wraps her arms around my neck. I'm blushing extremely red and she tells me, "You don't have to panic. This is my dare. To cuddle you like you were my boyfriend. You said you were fine with physical contact."

I nod my head shakily, my heart probably something she can feel with her head pressed against my chest, "Y-Yeah… I- I did say that."

She reaches her hand forward and spins the bottle before she presses herself against me once more. Her hair smells nice. Something like cinnamon or something else that's somewhat fiery to the nose. The bottle ends up pointing back at us and she looks into my eyes from her position as I look down into hers, "Well, Munsell… what'll it be?"

I think for a second and shrug, trying to play it cool, "Dare. Whatchu got?"

She tells me, "I dare you and… Shiko to spend seven minutes in heaven."

She lets me go and gets up. I'm surprised by the dare and turn to Shiko. She gives me a nervous grin and shrugs, "Sure, let's do it."

Yang grabs our hands and directs us to their closet and closes the door behind us. Shiko sits down and grabs my hand, sitting me down next to her against the wall and I start to become nervous, like usual (no surprise—I suck). I stammer, "Do you… want me to…"

She shakes her head and gets up to sit in the same position as Yang before the dare. She has the right side of her head pressed to my chest and tells me quietly, "Thank you."

I'm confused, "Huh? Why? What do you mean by that?"

She tells me, speaking lightly into my chest, "You've been a good leader… you didn't become frustrated in me when we were attacked during initiation. You've been nothing but patient with us… and supportive… and… and…"

I can feel her shaking and ask her, "Are you alright?"

She nods and wipes her eyes, "Y- Yeah. It's just… I had a rough time to get here. I didn't have much support. It's just… I keep thinking… that everyone around me… is just acting like they're my friend. That everyone has their fingers crossed behind their backs that I'm going to mess up. I… But… You're…."

I can feel the pain in her voice and hold her tightly. She has her hands over her eyes and she's crying lightly, trying to keep her sobs as inaudible as possible. I tell her, "I'm here for you. We all are. Terra, Carmine, myself. We're your friends, your team. I care for each of you guys. Not just as your leader, but as a friend should."

Another opportunity to tell her I like her. Wasted. I cringe internally at saying, 'friend' but I don't think hitting on her while she's hurting is a good idea. I can't imagine not being supported like her case. My brother's always been there for me. Whether or not I wanted him to be. I pull her hands down from her eyes and wipe her tears with my thumbs and tell her, "Well… I'm here to support you, Nadeshiko. I don't want you to feel like the world's against you. If you need to talk to someone, you have Carmine. I'm terrible."

She giggles at that and wipes her eyes, "Oh great, I pour part of my soul out to you and you turn out to be a jerk."

I chuckle at that and ask her, "Do you want to join this jerk in pranking the others?"

She tilts her head and asks, "How so?"

I whisper quietly, "We gonna make sounds like we're doing da nasty! That'll be a gag."

She's interested, "Oooh. Like what?"

She gets out of my lap and I start clapping my hand lightly against my thigh under the leg of my shorts and she holds her hands over her mouth to hold in her laughter. She tells me, "I'm going to throw in some moans."

I nearly burst in laughter at that and we continue making noise. We're seated with our backs against the wall to see them as they open the door. I can hear Yang outside, "I didn't think they'd actually get that far!"

Weiss sounds furious, "I never thought he was so deplorable!"

Ruby is confused, "What's going on? I don't get it."

Blake's quiet, "Ruby, stay back here with me."

The door opens and I look at my Scroll, "Hmm… we still had three minutes. Neither of us finished."

Shiko loses it and practically explodes from the laughter at my comment, shaking her head, "Weiss is right… you are 'deplorable'."

I shrug and we walk out of the closet and take our spots back at the circle around the bottle while the RWBY group rejoins us with red faces (well… excluding Ruby). I spin the bottle after laughing at them and we watch as it slows down and lands on Weiss, "So, Ice Queen."

She glares at me through slit eyes, "You know I can't pick truth."

I chuckle, "I know. Just reminding you. I dare you… to text Jaune, 'I wish I was next to you right now'."

She becomes even redder than she currently is and exclaims, "No! I will NOT do that."

Yang yawns again, "Boring. Weiss, are you just going to kill the mood the whole time?"

She glares at the brawler and sighs, exasperated, "Just give me the battery."

I hand her the same one I was dared into licking (after having wiped it off, of course) and she holds it in her left hand. Weiss sticks her tongue out of her mouth a little bit but doesn't seem to be moving the battery that quickly. Her face slowly takes on a grimace the closer she brings the battery becomes until Ruby pushes it the rest of the way, earning a jolt out of Weiss, jumping from the shock, dropping my battery away from herself and it clatters against the bottle. We laugh as she lectures Ruby and I pick up my battery again. She spins the bottle and it stops, pointed at Blake. She's reading one of her books again and she tells us, not looking up, "Truth."

Weiss shrugs, "Fine. Who are you interested in at this academy?"

Blake just answers plainly, "None."

Weiss seems a little hurt that her question didn't stir any reaction from Blake, "Really!?" Blake nods, "Nope. Not one. Yang, you can have my spin if you want."

Yang fist pumps and spins the bottle. The bottle slows to its stop pointing at Nadeshiko and Yang notices, "Hey, you haven't been dared yet, have you?"

My team mate shakes her head, "No, I don't think so. Dare."

Yang thinks for a moment and tells her, "I dare you to… try on one of Weiss's outfits or dresses."

Shiko turns to Weiss who nods her permission and then back at Yang, "Why?"

Yang replies, "Well, you're pretty, but I've only ever seen you in your casual combat gear, uniform, and nothing fancy. I just want to see you wearing something like Weiss does."

Shiko asks Weiss, "Can I put on anything?" Weiss nods, "Yeah. Yang got me interested too."

Nadeshiko gets up and becomes a little excited, walking quickly over to the closet for the second time tonight. She closes the door behind herself and we wait for her to finish. Yang comes up behind me and puts her hands over my eyes. I almost exclaim but she shushes me, "I know you want to see this too. May as well let it be a surprise for you even more because you're on her team."

I chuckle, "Alright" and I hear the door open again. I hear Nadeshiko's change in everyone else's reactions. Ruby gives a huge gasp and says, amazed, saying quietly, "You're beautiful…"

Blake comments, a hint of approval in her voice, "Yeah. You should dress like that more often."

Weiss chimes in, happy to see how Nadeshiko looks in her clothes, "I wouldn't be opposed to letting you borrow some of my other clothes."

Yang tells my team mate, "I can see why some of the guys like you."

She tells everyone, "Thanks. I appreciate it."

Yang let's her hands leave my eyes and I look up at Nadeshiko. I'm breathless. She's wearing a white dress with an exposed back between its sleeves, barely covered by what appears to be a thin but elaborate icicle design. The area of her naval to her lower ribs is quite transparent, a 'V' shaped dip begins partway between her breasts (which are about as developed as Blake's) and there's a rhombus-patterned lace between her breasts up to about her collarbones. The sleeves are about as wide as one of my hands being held with the fingers closed and her feet are wearing small heels with a similar rhombus pattern on them as the lace between her breasts. I get up and scratch the back of my head. I tell her, "Y- You look great, Nadeshiko. Like… wow. The guy who gets you will be extremely lucky, I can tell."

She blushes, "Th- Thank you, Munsell. I feel… very different. In a good way. Weiss, thanks for letting me where this. Yang, thanks for the dare."

They give their own respective acknowledgement and Shiko changes back into her regular clothes, sitting back down next to me again. She grabs the bottle and spins it and it points at me after probably the longest spin we'd seen we'd seen so far. I'm surprised and just shrug, "Um… dare."

She giggles and tells me, "I want you to try on one of Weiss's outfits!"

This earns an exclamation from both of us, "WHAT!?"

Weiss shakes her head, "No way, not my clothes! They won't fit on him!"

Ruby whines, "Aw, come on. You gotta!"

Yang offers, "I have the biggest clothes, he'll probably fit in mine."

Shiko nods, "Alright, you wear some of Yang's clothes and… video chat your brother."

I make an "Oooo" sound followed by, "I don't know… The battery seems much easier…"

Blake chuckles, "This I want to see. Don't chicken out, Munsell."

She puts her book down and everyone's giving me a supportive look to do the dare. I cover my eyes with a hand and turn away, "Cripes… Fine. I'll do it."

I get up and so does Yang. She seems to know exactly what she wants me to wear. She hands me a pink muscle shirt (Is that what they're called for girls? I don't know…) and a black pair of skinny shorts with the text 'BOOTY' across the back. She laughs as I enter the closet and get changed. I can hear the chatter in the room and I turn the knob. They stop and stare at me in probably a different way than they did for Nadeshiko. It's followed by a burst of laughter as I suddenly become subconscious about how I look. The bottom of the shirt reaches my bellybutton and I barely managed to fit the shorts on.

They're rather tight and I can see a bump of skin around the exit of the bottom of the short's legs. I ask Yang, "Will I lose my legs? I'm concerned about my circulation."

She waves it off and Ruby tells me, "Call your brother!"

I sigh, "Not like I could forget about Brother Dearest."

I pull out my Scroll and call him and he asks, apparently busy looking for something in the pantry, "Whaddup, lil' bro?"

I tell him, "I'm trying a new look. I want to get your opinion on it."

He chuckles and makes a confused expression with his eyebrows, "Huh, what is it?"

I show him the shirt and his face changes from surprised amusement to overwhelming bewilderment. He stammers, "Uh- Uhm… wh- wut, do… are… do you… w- want me to tell you?"

Yang blurts out, "Show him your ass!"

I hand Blake the Scroll and she holds it as I turn my back towards him, earning a burst of laughter from him, "Oh, good! I thought I should've been concerned! You're just doing something with your friends, I guess. I hope your partner can keep you in check!"

He hangs up and I speed walk to the closet. The shorts are the first to come off, my legs able to breathe once more. I get changed back into my night clothes and walk back out, reclaiming my spot in our group and ask Ruby, "Hey, where do Nadeshiko and I sleep?"

Yang pulls out a large bed spread and throws it in the space between the bunks after everyone gets up. She points and asks, "You sleepy already or what?"

I shake my head, "No. Just wanted to get it out of the way before everyone else gets knocked out."

We continue with truth or dare for the majority of an hour and I start a second movie at about 10:20. At about halfway through, Blake heads to her bed (which is opposite of where we've been sitting) and reads, eventually falling into sleep. Another half hour after that, I look up from the movie and see that everyone else is asleep except for Yang. Ruby and Weiss are asleep in the heiress's bed together and Nedeshiko is asleep against my shoulder and Yang comes out of the bathroom. I tell her quietly, "Your sister's asleep."

She points at Nadeshiko, "Her too."

I nod, "Yeah. I've got it."

I put the laptop to the side and move slowly, adjusting myself to carry Nadeshiko in a bridal style to put her on her side of the bed spread. Yang walks past me over to Ruby and slings her over her shoulders in a fireman's carry and throws her up to her bunk with relative ease and without waking the girl. She chuckles and tells me, "Both her and Weiss have a pretty hard time waking up."

I chuckle and ask, "Why were you up?"

She replies while climbing into her bed, "Well, I usually stay up to make sure Ruby gets to bed. Thanks for coming over and putting up with us. You two really helped make the night a fun one for her. Well, for all of us really."

I shrug and feel myself blush, "Ah, well, it beats sitting around in our dorm doing the same old. And hey, if it makes Ruby happy, then that's good too."

Yang asks me, "You don't mind Ruby, do you?"

I shake my head, "Nah. She's alright. She just enjoys the company of friends, right? Nothing wrong with that. She's a descent person, so I don't mind. Ruby's also the youngest one here. I figure that she wants to be accepted, right? Just like you. You're her sister and you only care if she's happy. Shiko just needs some support."

I turn to look at her and she seems comfortable as she sleeps. I follow up, "Carmine just wants to protect people. Terra… don't know. Weiss… I have a few ideas. Blake… also don't know."

Yang asks me, "What about you?"

I shrug and turn to her, "Don't really know for myself either. I mean, I came here to become a better version of myself, but I know that's not good enough. Guess… I'll find out by being here."

Yang tells me, "Well… I only asked if you minded Ruby, but okay! Good luck with that, Munsell. Good night."

I wave a hand at her and reply, "Hehe, sorry. Thanks. Good night to you too, Yang."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **Rose Petal Streets**

 **A/N:** This chapter kicked my ass because I'm clueless when it comes to daily kind of stuff. Back to the music… um… you guys remember how I mentioned "Ghost" earlier, right? Well, apparently they uploaded some of their previous stuff from 2013/2014 to YouTube again, so go check those out. They're great songs and… well… the style of them's pretty cool. Back to our inconsistent delivery of this story, I guess. I'll leave you guys to it!

I wake up the following morning before my alarm and cancel it to prevent it from waking anyone. I grab my bag of stuff and bring it with me into the bathroom. I get changed into my clothes for the day, which consists of my jacket with the sleeves rolled up past the elbows, clipped shut, also putting Amber King in its straps along with the batteries. I have a thin, tan, protective shirt (similar to Terra's full-body, undersuit).

My pants are a pair of jeans with black padding in comparison to my normal black or dark pants. I hear Ruby stir in her sleep and she sees me. She looks at her Scroll and asks me, groggy, "Why are you awake so early…? It's… like… almost seven."

I chuckle and walk up to her bed, "Well, it's so I can face the day. The more time you have in your day, the more you get to do."

She growls and turns over, away from me, and whines, "I'm not getting up!"

I reply, in response to that, "I'll buy you some cookies. How's that sound?"

She zooms out of the bed and into her closet with a moan from Weiss at the sudden noise. I turn to the closet and Ruby steps out in her usual apparel, "Sounds good to me."

Yang mumbles from her bunk, "Just go already."

I chuckle and we head down the hall, down the stairs, and towards the bulkheads to Vale. It's weird to see everyone else in casual apparel. I'm used to seeing them in their uniforms or combat apparel like Ruby. A lot of people seem to want to go to town. I ask Ruby, "Where are we headed first?"

She asks me, "Why not some breakfast?"

My stomach growls and she chuckles, "I'll take that as a yes. What kind of breakfast you want to get?"

I rub my gut and think for a moment, "Um… as long as it has eggs and hashbrowns, I'm fine."

She nods, "Alright, 'Morning Rise' it is." I'm confused, "'Morning Rise'?"

She nods, "Yeah, Yang and I have already gone there twice. It's pretty good, trust me. And they even have a ten percent discount for Beacon students!"

I give her a thumbs up and we talk casually until we arrive at Vale.

It's a pretty clear day. There're few clouds in the sky and the sun's light is pretty unobstructed. Ruby leads the way to the breakfast place (24-hour breakfast diner, pretty successful and popular) and she's excited, "I can't wait for you to try one of their shakes! They're so good!"

I follow her down the city streets and we reach the place. We walk through the door and a bell rings above our heads. We find a table in the corner and sit across from each other. A guy wearing an apron comes over and asks, "What'll you guys have?"

Ruby tells him, "Give us a moment for our meals but bring a vanilla shake with two straws."

He nods and writes it down, leaving to attend to other business. I ask, "What's the weapon store with the sale?"

She pulls out an ad from one of her pockets and shows it to me, "A place called 'Fighting Chance's'. They have a sale on schematics for certain hand-loaded rounds. Could always help on a mission."

I nod, "Yeah, that sounds pretty good. You know anything else they got on sale?"

She replies, "Uh… certain plastics and fibers. Maybe a few other crafting materials."

I get to thinking and contemplate buying some stuff from the store. Once we get there, I'll see even more. The guy comes back with the shake and puts two straws in it, "A shake for the couple."

We both turn a redder shade and Ruby tells him, "No-No! Just friends!"

I nod, "Yeah, friends. We're just hanging out."

He almost blushes himself but regains his composure, "Alright. Order?"

I nod, "Yeah, I'll take the egg-soaked hashbrown with toast and bacon."

Ruby tells him, "I'll take the 'Sun Pan-Cooked Pancake' with ham and egg."

He nods and leaves again and she slowly pushes the shake towards me and tells me, "Try it!"

I'm confused, "What's so good about it?"

She tells me, "Everyone we know that's been here agrees, it's the best shake ever."

I shake my head and chuckle, "No way."

I take a sip through my straw and immediately pull back. She asks, obviously with a large amount of anticipation, "How is it?"

I reply, "I immediately withdraw my earlier statement."

Ruby giggles and takes a sip herself, "See, I told you so!"

I like the way her cheeks get all red when she laughs. The way her bangs are in her eyes sometimes when her head moves. Especially when she laughs. I can't help but smile a little. I'm watching her without any real attention (not to be a creeper or anything!). She tells me, "Thanks for coming along."

I take a sip, "No problem. I woulda had nothing better to do anyways."

She chuckles and I build up the nerve to ask her, a little queasy in my throat, "Have you ever been in a relationship, Ruby?"

I get a nervous chuckle out of her and she asks in response, "What do you mean?"

I shrug, "Any boyfriends. –Or girlfriends. I dunno."

She replies, a little shy of the question, "Wh- Why?"

I tell her, "I just want to know. If you're not comfortable, that's fine. Hehe, Shiko had her own embarrassment day one…"

She shakes her head, "No, it's fine. No… I haven't been in a relationship. Heh. Yang was pretty much responsible for why I thought boys had cooties growing up. She would always threaten me if I got a boyfriend, she'd know and I'd be in trouble. Of course… I liked some of the boys but I had a reputation. I was 'the mean girl's sister' for the longest time. So any boys who got close to me only saw me as a friend."

I nod and scratch the back of my head, "Yeah… Guess that's just how our older siblings act. I know my brother was never on top of that. He just… never saw it happening…. I guess…"

Ruby chuckles and I ask her, "What would your sister do now if you got into a relationship?"

She thinks for a little and shrugs, taking a sip from the shake, "I guess she would do nothing. I mean, she can't be 'mom' forever. I guess she and I both know that."

I nod, and our waiter comes back with our orders. I see that Ruby's pancake is almost as wide as the plate, her ham and egg served on a smaller plate. We dig in and she continues our conversation, "Do you think we should help out Jaune or anything?"

I shrug, "Honestly… I don't think it's up to us. I mean, sure, Cardin's a bit of an ass, but he picks on other people, not just Jaune. And from the way Jaune puts it… it kind of sounds like he wants to deal with it himself. I mean, it's probably won't end with some life or death crisis, but he'll figure it out, I'm sure."

She's quiet and I ask, "What?"

She replies, "I don't know…"

I shrug, "I know we're leaders but unless we see him in any _real_ danger, then I think there's nothing that any of us can do. Also, I'm sure his team would be able to take care of him."

She gives in, "Alright. But if something bad happens, I'm blaming you!"

I chuckle, "Yeah, yeah."

We hear the bell of the door ringing and Ruby turns her head. Walking through the doorway is a girl with a beret, sunglasses, a rectangular purse (bag thing? Whatever…), and wearing an expensive-looking outfit. Accompanying her is a short-haired tall guy wearing a green sort of hakama with the right side of it for the upper-torso, black muscle shirt underneath, brown pants, and green bracers. He's missing the large pauldron that's usually on his left shoulder. Ruby exclaims, "Coco!" and I wave, "Yo, Yatsuhashi."

He makes a small nod to me and they walk over, Coco speaking first, "Hey Ruby. Munsell."

I give her a two finger salute and Ruby asks her, "What are you guys doing?"

Coco tells her, "We have an assignment due for Professor Peach and need to get some stuff for it. I'm also going to get some more clothes."

I raise a brow and ask, "And Yatsuhashi?"

She chuckles, "He gets to play pack mule. It was Fox's turn last time. You guys?"

Ruby tells her, "Oh, nothing really. We're just having some breakfast. Munsell's coming with me to a sale at Fighting Chance's. Other than that, we don't really have anything else planned."

Coco nods and tells us before they head to their own booth, "Well then, we'll see you guys around."

They dismiss themselves and our waiter comes around and leaves us our bill. We split the check and leave a tip before heading back out. I ask her, "Where to next?"

She points down the street, "To the sale. Unless you have something in mind."

I shake my head, "Nah. Not really."

I ask her, "How's it been going with your team, by the way?"

She shrugs, "Yang's doing well. I don't know if you can tell but she loves Goodwitch's class. I think we all do. She's been… less involved with me, really. She hasn't been as involved as before. I really thought she'd do something to make the guys not want to talk to me but she didn't so I'm grateful for that. Blake and Weiss have been… arguing back and forth but never anything too serious."

She continues to tell me about her team, "Blake's been hanging out with Shiko."

I'm surprised, "What? Really? I didn't notice."

She nods, "Yeah, remember Shiko's writing that book? She asked Blake for help and they've been hanging out together. Weiss has just been… Weiss I guess."

I chuckle, "Mean?"

She shakes her head, "No, just… Weiss. I mean, she's been more willing to study with us as a whole… um… I can't really think of anything else. How're the guys in suits?"

That's an inside joke that's been getting around about my team. 'GNT' is similar to 'gent' which apparently makes everyone believe that we wear suits/dresses/tuxes, which honestly would be great if we didn't have the nicknames 'Suits', 'Penguins', or 'Fancy Dancers'. I shake my head, "I know you know they don't wear suits. Well, Terra's finally got the hang down on all of the computer tricks I taught her. She's keeping a steady pace in Professor Dhalia's. Carmine and Shiko have given us some of their cooked food, which is as good as it sounds. Carmine's been hitting the range, trying to improve his marksmanship with his weapon. Shiko… well, I guess I need to ask her about her book, now. Terra's been getting some stuff for a VR setup from her dad, so she's excited with each new package."

She asks me, "What about you?"

I reply, "Well, I've started to design an energy blade under similar parameters to Amber King. Also, that sale may get me some pieces I need, like modules or certain metallic materials that are perfect for conduction. Might take me another month, as this time around it's not as complicated as building Amber King."

She expresses her surprise through a raised brow, "Sounds like fun."

I nod, "Yep. So what about you?"

She shrugs, "I wish I could say something new but I'm not really doing anything different from the beginning of the year."

We continue making small talk until we reach the store. The sign looks very industrial with its rustic brown coloring. It's shaped like a wide sword with the font on the blade. We walk through the door and there're two people behind the counter and two others watching over a firing range occupied by nine other individuals. The employees are wearing solid brown polo shirts with the logo on the left breast and black pants of varying material.

One of the people behind the counters tries promoting a deal, "Nice offer on handguns. Get three for the price of two! Assault rifle rounds and sniper bullets twenty percent off!"

I shake my head and raise a hand slightly to decline the offer. Ruby pulls out the ad from before and asks, "Actually, can you show us the materials here that are on sale?"

The guy grabs it and gives it a quick look, "Ah, this is from that magazine! Very few people have an appreciation for the classics these days…"

Ruby nods, "I hear ya."

The guy pulls out several of the materials listed in the add and several more, giving Ruby and myself quite the collection to 'ooo' and 'aah' at. I look at the materials he pulled out and see about four-fifths of what I need, grabbing them and some extra bits in case, "Refraction crystals… carbon fibers… plastic molding, micro-conductors… calibrator system, energy converter, and a button switch. These'll work."

Ruby looks at a few pieces of blue gridded paper and asks, "Do you have something with all of these?"

He nods and pulls out a complete book full that's about the size of a binder, telling her, "This has virtually all the needs that you have covered."

She looks through and exclaims, "Munsell! It even has some information about how to refine certain kinds of Dust!"

That draws my eyes and sure enough I'm staring at several home remedies with instructions that cover different kinds of unrefined Dust. We tell the clerk, "We'll take 'em."

He charges us our purchases and we head out on our merry way. It's only ten in the morning. I ask Ruby, "Should we buy some new clothes? I mean, doesn't it ever get boring to wear the same thing all of the time?"

She nods, "Yeah, sure. Hey! Maybe we'll run into Coco and Yatsuhashi!"

I nod, "Yeah, that's possible."

I look up on my Scroll nearby clothing places and there turns out to be quite a few. I direct her to the closest one, 'Less Traveled', and we walk through the doors. It's got quite a variation of clothing appropriate for Huntsmen from lightly armored casual clothes to heavy sets of armor. I look through the apparel on several different racks and nothing seems to catch my attention. Ruby doesn't seem to be having much luck either. She asks me, "Find anything yet?"

I shake my head, "Nope. I only look for things that are neutral or a varying shade of yellow."

She nods, "Yeah… same for me except with red."

I find a nice-looking coat similar to the one I'm currently wearing except it's for women and in a size I believe would fit Ruby. It's coloration is mainly white but has a red stripe down the arms, two down the torso (one on each side starting at the shoulders and ending at the bottom), a red stripe encircles the wrist on each sleeve, and one goes across the torso where the center of the ribs lies. The pouches of the jacket are red with white buttons and the straps are red with white clips. I hold it up for her to see and ask, "How 'bout this one?"

She gets a look at it from her distance and gets closer, interested. She nods, grabbing a pair of red pants that match the jacket, "I like it. Let me try it on."

I hand it to her and follow to the changing rooms and wait outside for her to finish. She steps out and I like the way that she looks in the jacket. She has it strapped closed at the upper torso but it opens up at the bottom of her rib cage, showing the black shirt she's wearing underneath. The pants are a slim fit and she's wearing her combat boots over the bottom of the legs. She asks me as she spins around slowly, "How do I look?"

I reply, first thing in my mind, "Cute."

I realize that that was probably the most direct I'd ever been in complimenting her, immediately earning a blush out of both of us. She replies, looking a little away from me, "Thanks… Munsell."

She quickly goes back into the changing room and I can't help but feel my face. I look at my Scroll and I'm the reddest I've ever seen. I feel extremely hot, my chest extremely cold from the rush, like my heart's being isolated to this cold temperature so that it can beat rapidly to compensate what it feels I need. I'm conflicted between fist pumping or cringing but I feel like it was a success, even if it was accidental. Ruby comes back out in her original clothing with the new outfit in her hands and I ask her, "Ready to go to the next one?"

She shakes her head, "Not until we find an outfit for you."

We walk around several of the stands and displays and each of us make suggestions to which the other objects. Eventually, Ruby picks out a padded vest attached to a long-sleeved chainmail shirt and a pair of metal bracers without fingers. The vest is colored tan with black straps and clips, the pouches it has with black buttons while the chainmail is of a black shade. The plating on the bracers are also tan but the gloved part is black.

I grab a new pair of black pants and head into the changing room, slipping on the new outfit and look at myself in the mirror. It actually looks kind of nice. So, I picked out a good outfit for her and she picked one out for me. I step out and gesture, "I think this'd make a good outfit. Probably for when I don't want to worry about my jacket snagging on something."

She nods, "I like it. Let's go."

I nod and change back into my usual outfit before we go to the counter and pay for the clothes and leave. We move on through the other clothing places and buy a variety of other pieces of clothes from accessories to other outfits. I got me a nice pare of shades with black frames and gold colored lenses and some cool chains that are compatible with my battery case, so that gives me some aesthetic options. We joke around and try on a lot and in the end we have five bags of clothes between us.

It's eventually five in the evening and my stomach growls. I've already changed my outfit for today. I'm wearing a brown leather jacket with my battery pack's extra straps around my waist, having replaced them with the chains I bought. The sleeves are rolled up and I'm wearing the new bracers I bought. Ruby asks me as she grabs my shades off my eyes and puts them on, wearing a grey blouse (blouse, right?) with compact shoulder plating, a red choker around her neck and a rose clip in her hair, "Where we going for dinner or lunch? I picked breakfast."

I nod, "Alright, I'll go with…"

I pick the first thing that shows up on my Scroll, "Uhm… 'Beacon Bites'."

She's surprised, "Oh, that place has the same food as the school. So, that'd be something good. It's got karaoke too! Are you going to sing?"

I shake my head, "Haha, nah. I'm good."

She gives me a pout, "Come on. I was looking forward to it!"

I shake my head, "No… probably some other time."

I try to get my sunglasses back from her but she just evades with her gift of being smaller and fast. I remember that I have another disadvantage as I'm the one carrying all of our bags of stuff. I chase her through the streets, laughing to myself as she giggles down the way, the pair of shades giving me a glimmer of gold every time she looks back at me.

She leads me down the streets, chasing after her, making sure I don't get the bags to catch on to something. She ends up leading me to the place I rouletted as the choice for our meal. I slip through the door before it closes behind a few people who enter ahead of me. I look around and the layout is pretty cool. It has the same red, dark brown, and black theme and coloration as the school.

There's a U-shaped, prominently black bar surrounded by a U-shape of stools which have red legs and dark brown cushions. There're several booths around with dark brown cushions, red frames, and black tables. I see that Ruby has already seated herself with two others: Coco and Yatsuhashi.

A waitress comes up to me and I notice the music playing in the background. It's an instrumental version of a popular song with someone singing it to a somewhat passable extent, the karaoke stage some distance away from the bar so that both rows of patrons and the other boothgoers can clearly watch. I ignore it and the waitress tells me, "Follow me. Your friends are waiting on you."

I nod and she leads the way to their booth which is three down from the karaoke area. I take the empty spot next to Ruby and the waitress asks me, "What'll you have to drink?"

I tell her as I adjust the bags to the floor, "Uhm… lemon Fizz. That'd work."

She nods and leaves after handing me a menu and Coco asks us, "How's the date so far?"

Ruby and I are both surprised, exclaiming, "What!?"

She giggles, "Yeah, you guys have been flirting, right? You went shopping together, especially for clothes and I assume you saw each other try on lots of things. Date."

I shake my head, "No, she just wanted someone to come along with her to see a sale."

Ruby adds, "Yeah, we just had some time to kill and decided to buy some new outfits."

I suddenly realize, "What about you and Yatsuhashi, huh? Are you guys on a date too then?"

She just answers flatly, "Nope. Not even close. I wanted to buy some clothes, Yatsuhashi was going to buy what we needed for Peach. I ordered him to carry my bags, he listened."

I chuckle, "Sounds like you're abusing your power…"

She shrugs and asks Yatsuhashi, "Am I abusing my power?"

He shakes his head and tells us, "It's not like it's anything bad."

She adds, "Also, it's different for you first years. You get to know your team more like they were family. Everyone has their role and knows how to treat each other. Like being another person's pack mule."

We chuckle and our waitress comes back with our drinks. Guess they must've ordered theirs before she got me. A diet cola for Coco, sweet tea for Yatsuhashi, a strawberry Fizz for Ruby, and my lemon one. The waitress has a pen in her left hand and a pad in her right and asks, "Your orders."

I already know what I want so I answer first, "Fried chicken sandwich, side of fifty-fifty fries and rings, honey mustard sauce too, please."

She nods and looks at Ruby who tells her, "I'll take a plate of spaghetti with a mashed potato side. Brown gravy, please."

The girl nods and directs her focus to Coco, who tells her, "Yeah, I'd like a chicken Alfredo with a serving of mixed vegetables. Thank you."

Yatsuhashi grabs our menus and hands them to her, "I'll have the shrimp and chicken pasta."

The waitress confirms our orders and leaves with the menus and Coco tells me, "That's a cool look on you, Munsell. Didn't think anyone would be able to pull off chains."

I chuckle, "Thanks. I guess it has to do with the fact that they're serving a purpose."

She nods and Yatsuhashi asks us, "How're your classes? Nothing overwhelming?"

I shake my head, "Nah. Seems like I got relaxed teachers… wait… uhm… Professor Dhalia. He's-"

Coco groans and holds her hands on her forehead, "Oh man… he's the worst. I had him for Software and Systems last year… hardest class I ever had in _my LIFE!_ He's a hardass."

I chuckle, "Yeah… Terra was having a hard time until I taught her some shortcuts."

Coco nods, "Yeah, Velvet taught me some too. That's good. If his is the only class that you have that's a problem, then you've probably got nothing to worry about. You, Ruby?"

She makes a shaky gesture with her hand and tells Coco, "Nothing really. I'm doing well."

Yatsuhashi nods, "Well, sounds like you guys are better off than we were."

We nod and the waitress arrives with our meals. She gives each of us our plates and I remember my promise to Ruby earlier in the morning. I ask the waitress, "Could you bring three cookies as an additional order?"

She nods and Ruby exclaims, "CAN IT BE TEN!?"

This gets the waitress's face to brighten a little in surprise and she gives me a confused expression with a raised eyebrow and I consider Ruby's question for a few seconds, "…Yeah… Make it… ten…"

She leaves with Ruby and Coco's empty cups and we continue to eat. The food is virtually identical to what's expected of Beacon. And if I haven't clarified before during the previous times the meals have been mentioned, it's incredible. We keep conversation going as we eat, from just everyday stuff to classes and stuff we've heard about other teachers and students. I end up being the first to finish eating and let my stomach settle. Ruby, however, intends to ruin it as she asks/tells me, "Hey, Munsell, didn't you say you wanted to try out the karaoke thing?"

I immediately grow tense as Yatsuhashi and Coco's attention focuses on me. Coco chuckles lightly, "Munsell, I never would've put you for a confident singer type."

I shake my head, "No no, she's confused. I told her some other time."

Coco counters what I just said, "Yeah. It's now 'some other time' from when you told her, right?"

She's got me in a box, kind of.

Everyone in our booth has their eyes on me and I figure that there's no way to get out of it. Fuck. I guess I'm doing it. And our booth is kind of close to the karaoke, remember, Munsell? Yeah, you do. Three booths down. Yep. My gut suddenly feels a little clenched now that I realize that this place is pretty well-filled, considering that it's the weekend. I notice that there's no one up there singing and I get up out of the booth, accompanied by Ruby whispering to Coco, "Oh, wait! Is he doing it!?"

I feel eyes on me as I approach the mic with the screen in front of it. I click 'Artists' and scroll through for _Shroud of Gold'_ and pick their song from a year ago, titled _Reset'_ , and to boast, I actually kind of sound like their singer so I'm not going to sound like everyone else who doesn't have a voice that matches the song that they want to sing even though, 'It's my favorite and I sing it so much, I sound like them!'

It's a cool rock build up for the first ten seconds and Coco yells, "Don't wuss out!"

I shake my head at her and I have about half of the people's attention in the whole restaurant because it's _Reset'_ by _Shroud of Gold'_. That's like anyone trying to cover _The Achieve'_ , so yeah, big deal. My ten seconds are up and I have to sing, but I don't need the screen in front of me to know the words, nor do most of the people listening, I'm sure.

 _Can I reset all the pain and the regret_

 _Reset the agony you felt before we met?_

 _Now that I've found you,_

 _What should we all do?_

 _What am I to you?_

 _The one who's bringing_

 _Nothing but the start_

 _A sudden end, a crushing stop_

 _Leaving here my lasting, burning mark,_

 _Nothing will slow me from reaching the top_

 _To keep and protect you, to save it all_

 _The only one to lose myself when it falls_

 _Never failing but keeping on_

 _Before you leave me, forever gone._

 _This song I sing like a symphony_

 _I'll save you from your enemies,_

 _Burning like a fire born from Hell_

 _Make 'em meet the maker they'll know well._

 _Crushed… my… soul._

 _I… won't… fall!_

 _I'll keep on fighting_

 _There's no denying… you_

 _I'll keep on trying_

 _I know we'll make it… through._

 _I will reset all the pain and the regret_

 _Reset the agony you felt before we met_

 _Now that I've found you_

 _Tell you what I'll do_

 _I'll keep on moving through…_

 _I'll fight through everything for you._

 _Remember me for what I have to be._

 _Remember me and what we'll see._

 _Remember me_

 _Remember me_

 _Remember me_

 _REMEMBER… ME!"_

Throughout the course of the whole thing, I'm looking around at some of the other patrons, letting them kind of feel for me. They're not up here but they respect that I am, and the amount of effort that I'm putting into their entertainment, so by the end of it, virtually everyone's listening. I put a little bit of emotion into it but nothing over the top, I guess the same amount everyone else is putting in that's intent on listening through it. When the song finishes, some are clapping, a couple of whistles, including one from Coco.

I get back to our booth and two people call out to me and tell me it was good. Now my stomach feels a little bit worse than before I started now that I have more attention than when it began. I can tell that I'm a little red in the face. Yatsuhashi offers me a fist bump and Coco tells me, "I honestly expected you to be a little _less_ good than that."

I make a confused face, "Thanks?"

They finish their meals and we get up to go, paying and tipping. Other patrons having told me 'good job' before they leave and a collection of the rest do before we head out the door. Coco and Yatsuhashi leave to one last spot while Ruby and I go head to a bulkhead back to Beacon. We find a seat together and I notice that it's already seven in the evening. Ruby tells me, wrapping her arms around my left one and gives me a light peck on the cheek, "Thanks for the fun today, Munsell."

I blush a little and she uses a finger to raise my shades from my eyes and I look away without turning my head, blushing a little more, "Yeah… I had fun."

We arrive at Beacon and head to our respective dorms after divvying up who owns what. It was a fantastic night, honestly… I can see myself together with Ruby… Oh, Dust… I hope that I'm not doing any harm by also going out for a date with Shiko tomorrow too. Is that cool for a guy to do? Is it like talking to two girls or is it technically cheating? Well… we aren't a _thing_ yet… but…

Bah… I guess we'll see. I hope I'm not wrong…


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **Playing it Cool**

 **A/N: Yo. It's me. The author of this story. Aldo7Aces. Here with another update for it. This and the last chapter gave me trouble, but I'm past it. I know I can finish the next one pretty soon but I'm going to edit chapter one to make it longer. Also something new! I've changed the way my paragraphs are formatted, so they'll alternate between speaking characters. The other ones will be updated to follow the style as well. But I'll get to that probably tomorrow, so thanks for reading. For music, I'd recommend "Five Finger Death Punch".**

I wake up the following morning, recalling how yesterday went. I take a shower and get changed into a good outfit for the town. A dark brown pair of pants, a matte black shirt under a short-sleeved button-up, tan dress shirt, my battery pack with its normal bindings is strapped around my waist, the container against my right thigh. I see Nadeshiko is still sleeping and check the time. 7:48 in the morning. Terra's using her phone and tells me quietly, "I heard you guys had a good time last night."

I'm surprised, "Who says?"

She chuckles, "Velvet. She sent me a link to a video Coco recorded."

She turns her Scroll to me and I see that it's from last night. It's me singing, sure enough. I try to grab it from her, "Come on, turn it off."

She giggles, "No way. You actually sound pretty good. Why would I turn that off?"

I sigh and she brings her face closer to mine, becoming nearly mute, "Nadeshiko said she liked it."

I shake my head at her and chuckle, "Now that's not fair."

She lets it keep playing and Nadeshiko stirs, "What time is it?"

Terra tells her, "Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to wake you. Uh, it's 7:52."

Nadeshiko slowly gets out of her bed and grabs a change of clothes, heading for the shower. Terra asks me, "So how'd it end with Ruby last night? You guys end up… I don't know… doing anything?"

I blush a little and tell her quietly, "Yeah… I guess. She gave me a kiss on the cheek by the end of the night and hugged my arm."

Terra smiles, "See, that's progress. That's good. Well, I think I've helped it get as far as I can."

I nod, "Thanks, Terra. I'm serious though. About paying you back at some point."

She waves her hand nonchalantly and tells me, "I doubt you can, but oh well."

Shiko comes out of the shower wearing a different kind of kimono than the usual one that she wears with her armor. It has both of its sleeves and is colored light brown. She has dark red short shorts and solid light brown thigh high stockings and light pink sneakers and fingerless gloves. I strap a duffel bag I emptied earlier for the decor we're going to buy around my back, give her a thumbs up, and ask, "Ready?"

She nods and we leave. I tell Terra, "You and Carmine should do something too. I don't know, just don't let him play computer games all day."

While we're walking down the stairs, Nadeshiko asks me, "What do we do for breakfast?"

I shrug, "Uh… we could have some here or in the city."

She thinks for a second and leads the way toward the bulkheads, "We'll go where Carmine likes to go."

I nod, but try to ensure that I'm right, "The donut place, right?"

She gives me a thumbs up, "Yep. That's the one. 'Dunk on a Dime'."

We get to the ship deck and board the bulkhead that's going into town. I see some, probably a quarter of the same faces of people that were on the ship yesterday and Nadeshiko asks, "What all did you buy yesterday?" I shrug, "A couple outfits. Weapon parts and components. Thinking about making a new weapon."

She's interested, her face brightening, "Ooo! That sounds cool! What are you going to make?"

I ask Shiko, "You've seen me fiddling on my computer, right?"

She nods and I pull out my Scroll to show her a series of images. Rendered blueprints. I tell her as I swipe through them, "It's going to be an energy SMG with an energy blade. I've got a few ideas, but I'll see what I'm gonna do. How's your book coming along?"

She turns a little red, "Oh… I don't know. I've written more but I can't give a percentage. I'm unsure how much I need to write. I know what's coming but how long it's going to take, I can't tell."

I nod, "Sure, sure. I hear ya. How's Blake's help been?"

She replies, "Oh she's been a major help! I went back and edited some of the stuff I previously had written because she pointed out a lot. So I say her help's been a pleasure. She's not too critical but she's not light either. Something I needed."

I chuckle and the ship lands, Shiko directing the way to Carmine's weakness. We walk through the doors and walk up to the serving counter. One of the ladies behind the counter greets my team mate, "Hey, Nadeshiko! Where's your partner at? I was expecting him to come in sometime this week."

She nods lightly, "Hey, Ivy. No, no partner today. But I did bring our team leader."

The woman extends a gloved hand to me, "Ivy Marx. What can I get you guys?"

I shake hands with her and look at the menu behind her head, "Uhm… Two cheese sausage kolaches."

Shiko tells her, "I'll take a small box of powdered donuts. Two medium chocolate milks."

Ivy serves our orders into a bag and hands me it after handing Shiko the milks and I offer, "I'll foot the bill for both of us."

Shiko's about to interject but I tell her, "Don't. I've got it."

She pouts and Ivy comments, "Haha, Carmine does the same. Hit him for me."

We get seated together at a table across from each other and ask, "What did he do?"

Shiko chuckles, "He made a comment about women and their age and I smacked him because she took it out of context and I told him he should watch how loudly he speaks sometimes. She laughed and we've kept it as a joke."

I smile lightly, offering her one of the kolaches, "That's neat. We'll split the stuff."

She takes it and puts the box between us, allowing me to take the powdered donuts, offering me the second bottle of chocolate milk. We begin to eat and Shiko starts off our conversation, "Why is it that everyone wears the same color scheme through their entire outfit every day?"

I chuckle, "Well, I guess that everyone's comfortable with sporting their favorite colors. I mean, our armor is virtually designed to express ourselves, right? I mean, you have dark red, brown, and light pink, right? I love my hues of yellow and my dark tones of black and brown."

She laughs, covering her mouth, "I'm just saying. It's not like it's anything that bothers me, it's just something I noticed."

I love the color to her eyes. Just their deep blue is enrapturing. I smile to her and ask, "If your color style had to change, even physically, what would you prefer?"

She giggles, "Uhm… like what are the limits?"

I shrug and tell her through half a mouthful of powdered donut, "Any colors."

She thinks for a second, "Well… I'd have white hair… purple eyes… and my new color scheme would probably have to be… sky blue, grey, and… dark blueish. Maybe some black. Do you think I'd look good like that?"

I picture it in my head and give a side nod, "Meh. You could pull it off."

She asks me before sipping some of her milk, "What about you? What would you pick?"

I scratch the back of my head and tell her after chewing on some kolache, noting my brown skin, "Hmm… I'd… pick… a different skin tone. Maybe somewhere between Carmine's tannish and Jaune's paleness, dunno. I mean, my brown skin is great, it'd just be interesting to see. Uh, also green hair and eyes because why not. Color scheme would probably be the same except swap the yellow tones for green ones, of course."

She nods and gives me an iffy gesture with her left hand, "Don't know about green…"

I shrug, "Well, fine. What about red?"

I can see on her face that she's mulling it over and nods, "Yeah, that may work. I'd probably keep your black hair if I were you, though."

We finish eating and leave, heading for some of the popular stores for people our age. Many things can turn out to double as decorations. Shiko has a list of things that Terra and Carmine want and lien that they gave her to cover it. We walk into a store and I look at the vast amount of shirts on the walls for popular bands, shows, and quotes. A couple memes. There're some rotating stands with more shirts and jewelry. There're mugs, wristbands, backpacks, virtually any kind of piece of apparel one could think of. Shiko heads to the posters and finds one for the ' _Achieve Men_ ' that Terra wanted. I find a meme mug for Carmine and grab a poster that's plain white with dripping red letters that read 'TODAY'S A GOOD DAY TO KILL GRIMM' and Nadeshiko laughs, "That's a good one."

She grabs four shirts of things that she likes and asks me, "You want to go costume shopping?"

I'm confused, "'Costume shopping'?"

She nods, "Yeah. There's a costume party coming up the month after next, so maybe getting some idea's'll help. It'll be held in the ballroom and some of the other big rooms'll be home to afterparties. We first years still need a host for our afterparty…"

I chuckle, "Does that mean that nobody's volunteered?"

She giggles, "You could say that. I have an idea or two as to who could be host…"

I scratch the back of my head while we look at a lava lamp that's on Carmine's list. I laugh, "Do you know what's in it for whoever hosts?"

She nods, "Yeah, funds for the afterparty. The hosts get to choose what they want at the parties. I mean, you do have the charisma for it. You're liked well enough by everyone else. Carmine could be your co-host. I've heard talk that you and Aurelio are both popular choices."

I chuckle, "Alright. I'll go look into it."

We buy a few more decorations and I put them all in my duffel before we head out to the nearest party store. When we enter, there don't seem to be any other customers. Heck, even one of the employees is hanging up decorations in preparation of the next holiday. They give us a wave and we walk to the back of the store where the higher end costumes are. There's a woman there making sure that the costumes fit or to offer a different size. I look at some of them and set aside my duffel bag. There's some Atlas soldier outfits (the padding looks metallic but is probably made of some light and cheap material) an old style knight suit of armor and a grim reaper's costume with some light armor and accessories. I grab the suit of knight armor and head into one of the changing rooms, leaving Shiko behind to choose something that interests her. I try it on after taking off my button-up shirt and pants, looking at myself in the mirror. I must admit, it does feel empowering. I flex a little and pose and generally act stupid in the reflection.

I step outside waiting to get Nadeshiko's opinion but she must've already picked a costume that she's changing into. I wait and one of the other doors opens. Nadeshiko steps out wearing what looks like some sort of princess costume and I bow to her, "Your highness."

She blushes and giggles, "Rise, fair knight. You do not need to kneel before me."

Those deep blue eyes. They leave me mystified for a moment and she comes closer, placing a hand on my shoulder and the other beneath my chin, 'lifting' me. She doesn't allow our eyes to meet as she goes back into her changing room. I stare as she heads back and I grab a soldier outfit before heading back to my changing room. I slip the knight armor off and swap it out for the soldier outfit, making sure the padding isn't mispositioned or snagged on another part of itself. I walk out and see Nadeshiko already waiting for me, wearing a maid outfit. I blush red, as it appears pretty tight around her breasts. I'm quiet and she tells me, "What? It wasn't my idea."

I'm about to ask 'Then who?' but the attendant tells her, "See, I told you you'd look cute."

I chuckle and tell Nadeshiko, "I don't think that one would work. One of the host's teammates dressed like 'the help'? Nah, I don't think that'd be good. Maybe something else."

She nods and tells me, "I don't think yours would work either. Anyone else could get one just like it."

I clap my two gloved hands together, "Then it's settled, we'll get something unique. But we can still get ideas, right."

She nods, "Yeah, sure."

We try on several different kinds of outfits and costumes and mess around with some of the toys and items for about an hour and buy more decorations for the upcoming holiday.

We acquire the rest of our dorm's decorations and it's about two in the afternoon. The movie I want us to see is at eight, but we have a few hours to waste. Nadeshiko notices me looking at my Scroll for the time and says, "We could go to the fair. We can have some fun there."

I nod, "Yeah… I'd like that. Let's go."

I grab her left hand with my right and strap my duffel bag over my left shoulder. She exclaims but calms down after a moment of sustained contact. It's near the docks of the city and it's an incredulous sight. A lot of the other students of Beacon, city residents, and other people going about their entertainment at the fair. I lead the way to ticket stand and hold up my left hand after seeing the options, "I'd like two unlimited passes, please."

The guy behind the counter of the booth nods and hands them to me after I pay for them. Nadeshiko's about to object but I tell her, "Hey, I'm treating you, alright? I'm doing what I think you deserve."

She blushes as I put her wrist strap around her right hand and asks me, "Could you…?"

I look keenly at her and ask, "'Could I' what?"

She shakes her head and other hand and chuckles nervously, "No, nothing… nevermind.'

I shrug, "Alright, sounds good. What do you want to ride first?"

She looks around and points at a tower with a lift on it that's rising and falling at different paces. It's called, 'Brink of Insanity' and I can give points to the originality. I nod and look for a place to leave my duffel bag. A familiar voice calls out to me, "Yo! Munsell! You want me to put that somewhere for you?"

I turn and see the familiar frame of Aurelio except in a uniform for the fair. His unique hairstyle is hidden in a baseball cap similar to his uniform and I'm surprised, "Aurelio, what are you doing here!?"

He chuckles and scratches the back of his head, "Hah, I'm getting some volunteer hours. You and Nadeshiko are lucky. Your volunteering class gives you guys enough credit for two years. The rest of us have to pick up hours elsewhere. So yeah, this is my contribution to society. I'm working the whole time until tonight's closing, so I can put your bag somewhere until you need it again."

I nod, "Yeah, sure man. That'd be pretty cool, thanks."

He takes the bag while Nadeshiko and I head for the ride she wants us to start with. Luckily we haven't eaten in four hours, so that's good. We walk up to the ride and its presence is daunting. There aren't many people lined up for it, leaving us little wait to be the next to board it. The ride manager helps us settle into our seats and I hear Nadeshiko's breathing becoming shallow after he clips her restraint over her shoulders and is working on mine. I remember one time during the first weekend we were here that she had a panic attack because of her anxiety.

Carmine was with her at the time so she got out of it alright but it was a scary thing to imagine happening to one's self. He told us, Terra and myself, shortly after that, "If you ever think that she's going to have one. Distract her. Try your best to distract her from it or help her control her breathing. You can't let her go through it. It's her worst fear to have one. Sadly, they still happen. Don't let her experience an attack if you can do anything to stop it. Alright?"

We both expressed our understanding and have since, all been looking after her. I grab her right hand with my left and tell her, "Hey. I'm here. You don't need to look out in front of me, just keep your eyes here, on me. If you become comfortable with it, you can look out if you want, but I'm here for ya."

And just like that, her breathing is back to normal. Guess I nipped it in the bud early. She focuses on my face and nods, her eyes wide with amazement. Don't know for what but we're both silent. Her with her focus on me and me with my focus on those gentle… deep… blue… eyes. I become a little concerned about how sweaty my hands might feel and my heart beating in my chest even though the ride hasn't even begun yet. I calm down and give her a reassuring nod, the first part probably more for me than her, "You're alright. I'm here."

She smiles lightly and looks out in front of her, out to the water and that's where I direct my gaze. The attendant finishes securing everyone else and I brace for when the ride lifts. It begins to rise slowly and I feel Nadeshiko's grip tighten around my fingers. I chuckle, "Building the proper suspense…"

She chuckles, "Why did I have to choose this ride first?"

I laugh, "Because you're human. Probably the most exciting one stuck out the most."

We drop and she lets out a cry followed by a laughing whimper. I let out an excited whoop followed by laughter at her mixed emotions of fear and excitement as we rise and fall rapidly. Other people have the same reaction around us, excited and fearful. We stop again in the air and I notice the sun and it's reflection quite a distance away from the horizon, since it's about mid-afternoon and point it out to Nadeshiko, "Hey, look."

She does and her eyes are filled with the same sight as mine. Calm waters, no ships in the way on the docks, the bright sun, not a cloud in sight. She lets out a small 'Wow…' that deforms into a terrified 'WHOAH' by the sudden drop of our ride, earning a gut pinching, silent laugh reminiscent of the first time we had breakfast together at the academy's cafeteria. She slaps my arm with her free hand and tells me, "You're mean!"

I chuckle, "Yeah, yeah, but you're the one who chose this ride! Shoulda known what you were getting into!"

She laughs, telling me between rises and falls, with exclamations and small screams mixed in, "Haha, I'm going to fake a heart attack in our dorm and when Carmine asks me what it was about, I'll say it was your fault!"

The ride slows down to a stop at the top and begins to slowly decline in altitude over the course of several seconds. Shiko's face is a bright red and I tell her after the attendant takes off our safety restraints, "Are you going to keep your hand like that or…?"

She turns a deep shade of red and snatches her hand away, "—I'm sorry!"

I chuckle and grab hold of it again, not caring if mine's slightly sweaty at this point, "I didn't say I minded it."

She blushes probably an even more emphasized shade of red and we walk away from the 'Brink of Insanity' ride, Shiko looking down directly ahead of her, obviously embarrassed by me holding her hand again. She asked me if we could ride the vertical experience of 'Brink of Insanity' first, so now I guess I pick the next ride. I look around and see if I can't figure something out. Then I see it, "How about the mechanical bull machine?"

She picks her face up and looks at the square setup for the ride. There's a square tent over an octagonal area, a black mechanical bull in its center, surrounded by the cushionable octagon. I lead the way towards it after she nods, "Sure. We can do that."

We get closer and see that there is a small line but most of the people getting aboard the mechanical beast aren't doing so with the best approaches. Some are guys trying to show off to the ladies around, some are girls doing it for a laugh with their friends, and others are just there to try everything (albeit not well). We reach the front quickly and I push Shiko in front of me for her to go first, earning a small 'EEP!' from her. I tell her, "You go first, I have an idea."

She seems uncomfortable but then finds her own comfort and gets on top of the machine, looking at the operator outside of the ring. He's standing in front of a control module with a noticeable joystick. I watch as it begins to move slowly after she nods to him. He makes the bull tilt sideways slowly, barely putting forth effort into trying to make her fall off, just making her gather her wits. I take a couple pictures on my Scroll and he picks up the pace and starts to spin the bull and tilt it in different directions. She's losing her control slowly, making nervous gasps as he picks up the pace a little more, eventually making her fall off to her left side with a quick and fast tilt. She slams into the cushioning, laughing. She walks over to me and tells me, "That was fun."

I nod and step up to the bull, placing my hands on its 'back' and jump up onto the machine, my legs to the side. There's a short rope with a black ball at the end of it between my legs and I grab hold of it halfway through, securing a grip with only my right hand, letting my left be free with the intention of being used to maintain balance. I give the operator a thumbs up and he nods casually. He moves it around slowly and I grip my thighs tighter to the machine. I can feel my muscles tensing and can tell this is going to be thigh workout. He picks up the speed a little and I'm keeping my left arm raised to stop from falling, adjusting the placement of my ass by jump a little between the pauses of jerky movement. After about six seconds, he really ramps it up. He starts to make the bull swing sideways and spinning followed by sudden stops. I can _really_ feel my abs and thighs muscles as he picks it up.

The nearest people are watching and I become aware that my techniques have attracted attention. Balance, balance is key. He stops the bull tipped forward and I'm face to camera with Nadeshiko's Scroll. I give a little wave and tell the camera, "Hey."

She waves so that her hand is in front of the camera and the man shitwhips me away. I'm internally praying, 'One more second… One more second… One more second…' It keeps going, every move being made by the bull basically _requiring_ me to move my ass to stay on. Eventually, the bull is tipped as sideways as it can go and spinning quickly. I can't keep it up. Nope. My thighs are killing me at the moment and my abs burning. My hand is cramping and I'm slowly tipping closer to the padding, until eventually, it's too much. He stops and I'm somewhat tossed clear of the bull before it stops spinning and several people clap. I ask the operator, "Can we do two people at once?"

He nods, "Yeah, yeah. Sure, good deal."

I walk over to Nadeshiko and she hands her Scroll to another girl, "Can you record it?"

The person nods and I grab Nadeshiko's hand, leading her to the machine. I help her up onto the bull first and jump up behind her, commenting, "You didn't hold that long…"

She chuckles, "Well, I didn't know how!"

I sit behind her and grab the rope, telling her, "You grab the rope and pull it close."

She nods and secures her hand above mine a little up its length, beneath the black ball and asks, "What now?"

I tell her as the machine starts to whir, "Now you hold on with your legs and try to keep balance."

It goes slowly, ensuring that we're set, and then begins to up the pace. If it leans back, her back presses against my chest, the back of her head pressing into my collar and neck region, my heart pulsing. If we move forward, we hunch over, our hands sunken into her stomach, me exerting extra effort to not press into her back too much. Sideways… well, I wrap my arm around her stomach to keep her balanced, her body failing to remain on the bull. She's giggling and exclaiming, probably not as much as on 'Brink of Insanity', but I can tell it's out of a more fun origin. She holds her left hand on my left arm, keeping it wrapped around her stomach after the third time we lean sideways and I can feel her heartbeat as my arm bumps up to her lower ribs and breasts as we bump around on the machine.

At about second twelve, he quickly jerks the bull from the left to the right and she lifts up too far to hold. Her other hand lets go and wraps around my left arm, pulling me off-balance with her. We land together on the cushioning around us and get up to go, Shiko getting her Scroll from the other girl who recorded us. She tells me as she watches the recording, "That was fun! I enjoyed it a lot and I feel so full of energy!"

I chuckle and tussle the hair on the top of her head with my right hand, "I'm glad you had fun. Where are we headed now?"

She thinks for a moment and points at another ride, "That one looks cool."

That's how it went on for the duration of the following five hours. We rode rides, re-rode some rides, ate some junk food, relaxed a bit and played some of the games for prizes. (I won plushies of an Ursa and a white and a black King Taijitu.) I gave Nadeshiko the prizes while we moved on to other places and attractions. A guy who looked like a statue, a guy who drew us as cartoon chibis, enjoyed funnel cakes, tried out bumper cars, a tilt-a-whirl, and so many other amusements. When I noticed that it was time to head for the theater, I gave Nadeshiko the heads up and she nodded, letting me lead the way after I retrieved my bag from Aurelio, putting all of our stuff into the bag.

We get to the theater and I buy the tickets for the movie, heading in with Shiko and we just hang around in line at the concessions counter, waiting to get our own snacks for the movie. I get us a large popcorn, a large lemon-lime Fizz for me and a medium cola for Shiko, and two peanut butter chocolate bits. We head to the show room for our film and give the admittance half of the ticket stub to let us go in. We sit at one of the sides of the aisles and wait on the ads and trailers to pass, putting my duffel bag under my . The movie begins and instantaneously, it's a laugh fest. As expected from the writers. Just hearing Nadeshiko's laugh is contagious, just like the first time I actually got her to bust a gut. Just that laugh… it's great… I'd like to keep hearing it. That thought stays with me until halfway through the movie and realize the problem with trying to 'talk' with Shiko and Ruby at the same time. One of them might develop… I don't know… feelings, interests(?)… and I know I won't be able to reciprocate it with one of them. I don't want to hurt either of them. I might have to… stop this…

I feel a little sick in my gut and the movie's jokes don't get me to laugh as much… I try to play it cool but I don't know if I did a good job of it. We finish our popcorn, snacks, and drinks, leave the movie theatre, me toting my duffel over my shoulder. Shiko notices and she asks, "Munsell? Are you alright? You seem… a little… off. Kinda like Jaune." I sigh and ask her, "Nadeshiko… why do you like me? I mean... you're a nice girl. I'm selfish. I, until recently, didn't even have a circle of friends. I'm a jerk. Why… do you…?"

She asks me, "What do you mean? You're not a jerk, you're great. You're a decent guy."

I ask her, "Do you know that I'm interested in Ruby? And I took her on a date yesterday. And now I guess I turned today into the same thing too… Are you alright with that?"

She stops walking and I turn around, stopping to look at her. She's holding her arms crossed over her stomach and she's looking down and she asks me, "So does that mean you're interested in me too, then?"

I feel a little apprehensive, the feeling in my chest becoming a little tight. I tell her quietly, "Yeah… I do. I mean, it's my first time at a place where I _know_ I'll be spending more than half a year with anyone around. These are people who I'm going to develop bonds with and… I guess it means I'm just a little bit sentimental or something. It's just… I'm not great… at directly confronting stuff like this. I'm sorry. I'm just selfish."

She looks up and shakes her head, "You're not selfish. You're just a little insecure. You're fine. I get it. I'm… alright with it, honestly. I mean, it helps me understand that you're not 'settling' for a girl like me, that you're actually trying to see how… important I am. I just want to ask you one thing."

I nod, and tell her, "Yeah… go ahead. Shoot."

She asks me, "Have you told Ruby?"

I shake my head, and look off to the side, "No… I just thought about what I was doing while we were watching the movie. It just bothered me a little."

She tells me, "Well… as long as you tell her, I'm alright with it… and I'm sure she might be too. You're a great guy Munsell, really. Why do you think that so many people like you? Heck, they even want you as a party host!"

I chuckle, "Yeah. I guess you're right. We're good, right?"

She nods, "Yeah. We're good. I'm glad you talked to me about how you felt."

We begin walking back to the station for the bulkheads not talking anymore after that. Just walking together quietly. We head back to Beacon and head back to our dorm, Nadeshiko telling me before we get to our door, "Thanks for today, Munsell. It was really one of the best I've had here."

I nod, "Yeah… I hope we can do something like that again."

I open the door to our dorm and see our teammates still awake, using their stuff. Carmine is using his computer and Terra's opening a package. She looks up and exclaims, "I GOT MY LAST PACKAGE FROM MY DAD! OH MY GOD!"

I chuckle and she opens it up, pulling out two headset devices that seem to be the 'goggles' one would wear over their eyes. She's excited and I tell her, "You can get the thing set up, along with the decorations we got, but we have to get some rest. Classes pick up again tomorrow, remember?"

She groans, "Ugh… _FINE!_ Gosh, Goldie, why do you have to be such a downer?"

I chuckle and Carmine looks up as I pull up his most desired decoration, "OOOO! MY LAMP!"

I shake my head and we start to put up the decorations. Terra's poster is to the left of the door, mine to its right, the Grimm plushies that I won for Shiko earlier are on a small shelf in front of her bed that has some of her other stuff, Carmine's lava lamp in one of our room's corners, virtually everything we purchased changing our room's decorative dynamic in some way or another. I turn off the light and close the blinds, the red light of the lava lamp touching virtually every new decoration. I remind everyone, "Remember, tomorrow we're going to serve as the perimeter guard for the classes that are head to the forest of Forever Fall for Peach's class."

They confirm my reminder and prepare their kits for tomorrow. I slip into my bed and lie still as everyone slowly slips into sleep, Carmine listening to music, Shiko just falling asleep immediately, and Terra being turned away from me but having a steady breathing rate. I'm about to slip into the ether but get a message from Terra on my Scroll.

'How'd it go?'

I reply, 'It went well enough… talked with Shiko about a few things. Get to sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow.'

She sends another response, 'Alright. You're the boss.'

Shortly after that, I fall asleep while staring at the blue blobs moving around in Carmine's lava lamp.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 **Fields For Killing**

 **A/N: Hey. Sorry for the late upload… and I mean LATE upload. Been busy… aren't we all… (Aldo, stop using the same lame excuse… gosh…) Hope everyone's been fine. Umm… oh yeah, I uploaded 'Sanctuary: Earth Reborn', so anyone up for an original story about 78K words long, go look for it. Ah… for music… I recommend… Rin Ginsuke's work. Nice trance and dubstep with a lot of variation. So, I leave this chapter to you guys and hope you enjoy, as always.**

I wake up before my alarm again and see that Nadeshiko is drying her hair off. She's surprised, "Oh! Hey, Munsell! I was about to head to breakfast. You want to tag along?"

I nod, "Yeah… just let me shower first."

I get up, grab a new change of undergarments, and set my armor outside of the shower. When I finish, I quickly get changed and follow Nadeshiko out through the door. She's leading the way and asks me, "You have fun yesterday?"

I nod, "Well, I had no choice: I paid. How'd it go for you?"

She giggles, "Well, I had a good time. You made it pretty fun."

I ask her, "Do you know where I go for applying as one of the afterparty hosts?"

She nods, "Yeah, Tirrian's in charge of it, actually. So, you might be able to talk to him about it after we're done with today's assignment."

I agree, "Yeah. I'll see him."

We're quiet for quite some distance and she tells me, "You don't have to feel awkward about what happened yesterday…"

I blush a bit and tug at some of my armor's straps, "Yeah… sorry…"

She turns to the side as we approach the cafeteria line and tells me, "I'm glad it happened though, if it makes you feel any better."

We sit and have our breakfast slowly, conversing about different things, but I'm not really paying attention, just responding automatically, a little out of it. Nadeshiko seems to have noticed, but she doesn't say anything about it or anything (something I'm thankful for). When we finish eating I tell Nadeshiko, "You can head back to the dorm. I have to make some adjustments to my rifle and batteries." Everyone was instructed to leave their weapons and equipment in the storage room if they have Peach or Tirrian. She nods and leaves in the opposite direction while I head to the equipment locker room and focus on mine. I input my code and it pops open. I grab Amber King and eject the currently loaded battery, distracted for an instant when my battery carrier falls out of the locker. My left hand snaps to the flying battery and catches it—and one Blake Belladonna's bow along with it.

I don't know if it was fate or shitty chance, but I grab the black strand with my right hand from my left, my mind not yet registering what just happened. I turn to Blake and apologize, "Oh, sorry. I didn—" until I notice the cat ears.

She turns an extreme shade of red and tackles me down, her sitting on my chest, the blade of Gambol Shroud drawn towards my throat and I exclaim, "Whoah! WHOAH! Blake, you're a—"

She presses her left hand over my mouth and looks around, apparently noticing no one and sheathes her blade, telling me, "Sorry… I reacted out of instinct. Can you… give it back?"

I nod, "Ye-Yeah! Of course… sorry… but… how did- why are-"

She ties her bow once again and tells me, "It's complicated. Can you just… not tell anyone?"

I massage part of my face and tell her, "Yeah… but… what about your team? Do you plan on telling them?"

She shakes her head, "…No…"

I'm surprised, "Blake, they're your—"

She cuts me off, "Look… I know that you're concerned… but you wouldn't understand. I'm sorry, but it's something I'm trying to handle."

I sigh, "Ahh… fine… but I hope you can keep it up… if that's your goal."

She nods lightly and tells me, "I want to keep it as small as possible… so I'm really trusting you."

I go back to fiddling with Amber King and my batteries and reply, "Trusting me with what?"

She gives me an irritated face, "With my secret."

I shrug and give her a confused face, "What secret?"

She yells, "About me being a Faunus!"

I laugh and tell her, "I'm acting like it didn't happen. So, when you ask about it again, I won't acknowledge it at all."

She blushes, a little embarrassed at not catching on, "Oh… thanks."

I chuckle as I pull out a pair of tweezers from my jacket, adjusting Amber King's focusing crystal lens, "For what?"

She gives a humored sigh and leaves, returning her weapon to her locker and I'm left a little bewildered by what just happened. I check the time, and notice that there's still about forty-five minutes before everyone is supposed to gather here. I undo several of the systems of the rifle on the bench I'm sitting on to further adjust the calibrations and efficiency. By about the time I finish, some other people begin showing up for their respective classes. I strap Amber King to my back and the battery carrier around my waist, over my jacket. All batteries fully charged and ready, including the one loaded into Amber King. Professor Tirrian steps into the room, rubbing his hands together and announcing, "Those of you serving as perimeter guard, come to this side. Goodwitch'll be here to talk to the rest of you about your assignment from Peach."

I get up and follow over to the opposite side of the room that I am and notice the other teams around. Team MTER, NOIR, SNGE, and VIVD are gathered near him and my allies come in through the door, coming over to where we're all with Tirrian. Tirrian seems to be a little more serious today, wearing a padded bullet vest with ammo magazines, thigh pads, shin guards, and padded bracers, a large briefcase strapped to his back, a small closed computer on his chest, and a small machine gun strapped around his waist. He tells us, "You guys are responsible for minimizing the chances of Grimm reaching those who are in Peach's class, even if they are all capable fighters. There will be three shifts, a thirty minute break between each, protecting different periods. Three major grades will be taken between all three, a possibility of three hundreds at max. Your grade is collective amongst all of you. For each conflict reported between them and the Grimm, that is five points off of everyone's grade for that shift, but if you at least join in the conflict, it'll reduce the loss by half. This is a security detail job, different from the likes of transport or escort jobs, so I'm taking it easy on you guys. Your job is just to kill Grimm, don't go out of your way to help out Peach's students with their assignment. Think strategically in your methods. If a Grimm is moving closer to you guys, is it necessarily headed to who you're protecting or just changing its location for a different objective? It's like every Grimm has a chance of breaking the perimeter but also has no chance at all."

We nod our understanding and he hands us ear pieces, "These are to help you guys keep up communication and keep each other updated. Pushing the top button broadcasts what you say to everyone, the bottom one does so to everyone, so you can use it appropriately. You could use your"

Everyone hooks theirs around their ear and he tells us, "If you need my intervention on a situation, don't be afraid to ask. I will only be able to do so with this:" he pats the briefcase on his back, "D.A.D.S."

Everyone holds back a chuckle or giggle a little and he continues, "Originally the Rocket Payload Mortar Launcher, I decided to modify this for missions where I supervise you kids, thus, renaming it to the Destructively Awesome Delivery System. I only have three rockets" he pulls one out after opening part of the case, white stencil words painted along it reading 'Positive Reinforcement', "so I'll only be able to do so a few times throughout the day, should the need arise. Also, it won't count against you guys or your grade, but the order can only be given by team leaders with one of these:" he hands us a sort of laser pointer gun, "a W.H.I.N.E.R."

Another chuckle through our group, as he continues, "Originally designated as Distance/Path Calculators, I decided to make some adjustments for locking onto life signatures and renamed them as Wholly Heat-seeking Invaders of Naturally Extreme Returns. 'Returns' as in, you put in the effort to target something, and you'll get a large return for your time."

We nod our understanding and Professor Goodwitch walks in and addresses her first group of students for the day while Professor Tirrian tells us, "You team leaders determine how you guys are arranged, like whose team where and how many in number like groups of two or four or solo. Stuff like that."

Let me take this time to point out the teams and their leaders.

Aurelio Midas (MTER's leader), Ty Gale, Demeter Ebony, and Dutch Regalia: Meteor.

Dell Nocturn (NOIR's leader), Miles Ochre, Iris Grell, and Kyra Ritz: Noir.

May Somber (SNGE's leader), Orell Netherspite, Ramsey Graft, and Noel Eglantine: Singe.

Verdice Brine (VIVD's leader), Ingram Mars, Hale Vermillion, and Damask Sky: Vivid.

May is the first to talk, "I believe a full circular perimeter would be ideal. Everyone here is a capable fighter, right?"

Aurelio shakes his head, "What if a situation arises that needs more than one person immediately? Can't risk that."

I suggest, "Two teams of four, everyone else in groups of two."

Dell agrees, "Yeah, we could have two of the groups of two roaming around offering additional help if they're needed."

We all nod agreement and Dell says, "My team could be the two roaming groups."

May volunteers her team, "We could be one of the groups of four. We'll have the left side."

Verdice takes up the other side, "We've got the right."

Ty points out, "Guess MTER and RGNT will be the other groups of two."

Carmine nods, "Yep. Spread out."

We confirm the plan and Tirrian tells us, "We're headed out. Goodwitch already has Peach's students ready. Let's go."

We're all pretty close together and the perimeter guard teams take their ready positions. As we get closer to the Forest, Tirrian orders us, "You can spread out now. You'll have plenty of room. Get started."

I hear him tell Professor Goodwitch as we distance ourselves, "It makes a parent proud to see their children growing up."

She shakes her head and tells him, chuckling, "You don't take your job seriously enough."

I'm partnered up with Terra, in the center of the front and we put some distance between us and everyone else. She asks me, "How'd it go yesterday with Nadeshiko? Give me the deets."

I chuckle, "That all you ever want to hang with me for? Gossip?"

She nods, "Kinda, yeah. I mean, you're the only one I really know with something interesting like this going on."

I shrug and we get a transmission. It's Verdice, "Engaging an Ursa Major and two Ursi Minor. If you roamers are nearby, come offer some assistance."

Her tone wasn't anything serious, but just a little cautious. Guess they've got it handled. I continue as I keep my eyes peeled, "Well… it kind of got awkward towards the end. I felt a little bad about trying to 'keep my options open' and talked to Nadeshiko about it and… it went… better than I expected."

Terra lets out a long, high-pitched 'wheeeew' whistle and tells me, "I didn't even consider that as a problem for you! Oh man… now I feel bad…"

I wave it off, "Nah, it's fine. I just need to talk to Ruby about it too."

She nods, "Yeah. I can see that as a good idea. Hey, Beowolves."

She points directly in front of us and I aim down my gun sights. There're four of them roaming together in front of us, moving toward the left in front of us. We're on a ridge a few feet higher than them and I ask Terra quietly, "What's the strategy?"

She pulls out the blades from her back holsters and asks me, "You alright with Pincer?"

I nod, "Pincer'll do it. Go."

She nods and jumps, throwing both of them at the first one, the blades digging into its torso as she sprints towards the Grimm. The other two attempt to claw her but she reaches her target. She grabs her blade handles and uses the opponent's body as a shield to protect herself from their claws, yelling, "Hurry it up!"

I'm already in mid-air from my jump over the ridge, my sights focused on the Beowolf that's the second closest to her, and I fire a beam through its angled head, creating a hole in its skull, switching modes from focused shot to constant shot, firing the beam through the other one, splitting it in half from its ribs to its shoulder. She throws both of her blades into the air after prying them out of the Grimm and I fire at the one on the right, the blades reflecting the beam and drilling a large hole into the final hostile's chest. She catches her weapons and sheathes them. We watch as their bodies dissipate and she asks, "So, when are you going to tell Ruby?"

I shrug as I check the charge of Amber King's loaded battery, "I guess when a chance presents itself. I don't think I'll get it today… well at least not out here in the field. Hey, do you happen to like anyone here?"

She's surprised as we keep moving, "Wh- What? N- No one! …Why do you ask?"

I chuckle as I peek towards a cave, seeing an Ursa Minor in the entrance, "Well… you've been taking longer to get ready in the mornings and I do remember a certain delivery to our dorm…"

She blushes a little, "What delivery?"

I continue as team NOIR tells us what their current situation is, nothing extreme, "Well… it was a package for some sort of… perfume and other beauty stuff, right? Smelling pretty for a guy or something?"

She blushes extremely and tells me, "We should clear them out!"

I smile a little at her attempt to distract me and agree, "Yeah. They'll be attracted to everyone else… I think that… Juggernaut oughta handle it."

She nods and tosses me the two blades from her waist while I give her Amber King, putting Amon and Barbados over my knuckles, holding the blades upside down in my hands. I lead the way towards the cave, the Ursa becoming alert to our position. I grin and crack my knuckles, asking Terra, "You have your target?"

She laughs before telling me, "You know, you're the only person above me who I get to shoot at!"

She fires a steady beam into my back and I absorb the unleashed energy through my jacket. It's like a supercharger, taking the converted energy from the battery. A boost that's much more violent except lasts significantly shorter. I discovered it by accident two years ago when the rifle blasted me in the foot when the safety was off.

I sprint towards the cave entrance and the Ursa roars, its body angled in a way that its head is leaning forward, its arms at its sides, attempting to intimidate me, but I'm quick to arrive where it is. Terra tries to keep up, but she's fallen at least a good seven seconds behind. I slit my first opponent's throat with a quick swipe of my right arm, moving past it and into the cave entrance. Red eyes focus on me and my body is glowing immensely from my boost in power. Six Ursa Minors and one Major. I focus on how they're positioned. Two approaching. Two standing back on the left, and two on the right between the ones on the left and the two approaching. The Major is behind all of them in a wide area. Probably sleeps there while the others rest in the comparably smaller tunnel leading to the gaping space.

I kick off of the ground towards the two approaching threats. I pull back my left fist and drive it through the face of the Ursa on the left, it still being hunched over in a run. The feeling of metal crushing everything from the front to the rear of its skull, small shards impaling the ends of my curled knuckles, barely damaging my Aura, but still boosting it. The second Grimm has stopped and has both of its paws raised above its head, ready to crush me. I react quickly and back handspring on my left hand at the same time as the limbs come down. I use my legs to interrupt its left paw a little and use my right arm to sever that appendage by the elbow with the sheer amount of energy in my boosted momentum.

I complete my flip, landing in a crouched position as the Grimm holds the space where its arm used to be with its other limb. I smirk and jump up to meet its hateful gaze, pulling Terra's blades inversely from each other, making them act like scissors, severing its skull. Terra appears at the entryway and I throw her two daggers into the chest of one of the two Ursi on the left, earning a couple of loud spirting sounds from the source of flesh being torn and pierced. It collapses backwards and Terra focuses her aim on one on the right. Before it charges toward me, she fires a well-placed shot through its skull, its body flipping forward as it is unable to control its momentum. The last two Ursa Minors charge and Terra yells, "Here!"

Amber King is sliding towards me from behind, propelled by an electrical charge and I yell back as I catch his handle, "Thanks!"

The Ursa on the right attempts to bite at my throat but fails as I drop my body backward, aiming the rifle at its vulnerable throat. Just as I expected, Terra had changed my rifle's mode to dispersed shot, my trigger pull blasting a large space into its neck. The other seizes this moment to attack me on the ground, its left paw pulled behind it but Terra arrives, double dropkicking its chest, staggering her target and she lands seated next to me. She throws her other two blades into its unprotected throat and asks me, "You good?"

I nod, "Yeah. Out of energy now, though."

She nods and raises her right hand in a fist to me and I respond with a knuckle touch. We both get up and the Ursa Major charges us, knocking us both away with a butt of its head to both our chests in rapid succession. It roars at us and it's basically fully taking up all of the tunnel's space, ALL FOUR OF TERRA'S KNIVES BEHIND IT. She punches the back of my shoulder, "You lost my first two knives and now since I had to save your ass, I lost my other two!"

I chuckle and tell her, "Microwave."

She generates an electrical ball and shoots it at the Ursa's head, the ball expanding rapidly and electrocuting the rest of its body, stunning it. I pull out two of my batteries and this is the reason why I don't attempt to boost another individual. I cram them both against the sides of the beast's skull and use my Semblance to 'boost' its power. Immediately, parts of its skull begin developing bumps and corroding away in a mix between the glow of Grimm red and bright yellow that is my power. It's a cheap setup, 'Microwave', but we're not in the department for time right now. Just kill and move on, kill and move on. Besides, the more batteries I have recharging, the more efficient, right?

I swap them around, putting one of the two fully-charged batteries into Amber King's ammo port, telling Terra, "You can get your knives… while you tell me who you like."

She lets out a frustrated groan, "Goldie… how could you tell!?"

I laugh loudly before broadcasting to everyone, "Gimme a sec… Hey, this is Munsell. Terra and I just cleared a cave full of Ursi. We're headed out to find more Grimm."

I continue addressing Terra, "Yeah… just like you noticed a change in me, I noticed on in you. So, I might be able to pay you back, remember?"

She nods and we walk out together after she recovers her weapons. She scratches the back of her neck and tells me, "It's… actually... I uhm… the person I actually like is a girl."

My jaw drops a little and I hold my left hand over my mouth, bumping my lip with half of my close range duo, "OH SHIT, I'M SORRY I SAID 'GUY' EARLIER!"

She giggles a little and tells me, "No… you're good. That's why I was always a little skeptical of you 'paying' me back for pushing Ruby and Nadeshiko. I don't even know if she likes girls!"

I nearly laugh loudly at her predicament but get a little compassionate, "Well… man. I don't know how I could relate, but I could always just try in my own way. Who is it?"

She gets quiet, "It's Hale. From VIVD."

I recall in my head all of Hale's qualities (that I'm familiar with) and I tilt my head sideways, "Yeah… I could see her as a good choice. So… when do you plan to tell her?"

She looks down, hands in her pockets, "I don't know… I have her in two other classes… so that's about all of the opportunity I have."

An idea flashes into my head, "Wait. You know the costume party that's coming up, right?"

She nods slowly, "Yeah…?"

I answer, "Well, I could play host, I'm sure you've heard the talk about popular candidates, introduce you two to talk to each other. Things expand from there, boom! PAID BACK!"

She shakes her head, "Haha, if only it were that simple. But it's a start."

We continue scouring around, killing off stray Grimm, making our way through the forest until the first break comes around.

Everyone's gathered together and Tirrian tells us, "For this first period, you guys have an eighty-seven point five. Still have three D.A.D.S. You're reports on your status have been very well and you've been doing a good job. We've got about half an hour before the next class gets here. You guys can change your strategy or, while you're waiting, you can look for more Grimm to kill."

Aurelio tells us, "I think we should mix up the teams."

Miles is interested, "How?"

Aurelio elaborates, "Well… this'll only influence mine and Munsell's teams, but we could have someone from MTER paired with someone from RGNT, that way communication between the pairs of two can be a little better."

Hale nods, "Yeah. Hey, we could make another group of two with one person from SNGE and VIVD. We didn't really seem to need all four members in both, so…"

May orders, "Orell, you go."

Verdice volunteers one of her team mates, "Damask, you're up."

The two guys stand aside and Dell suggests, "We could have it arranged like this from left to right: Group of three, two roaming, two fixed, two roaming that could be Orell and Damask, two fixed, two roaming, group of three. Like a mirror. That way, the three roaming teams can go between the two fixed groups of three and two, giving more coverage."

We nod agreement to the plan and Aurelio asks me, "I came up with the partnering idea. If you want to go with it, you guys can pick your partners from my team."

I nod, "Sure. Uhm… Dutch, I've got you."

Nadeshiko, "Demeter. We're roaming."

Terra, "You and me, Aurelio."

Carmine, "Alright, you're with me, Ty. Roaming too."

Everyone gets paired up together and ready and we head out a good twenty-something minutes before anyone from the next class arrives. I ask Dutch, "So, what's your weapon?"

He has a sort of shotgun with a flamethrower built into it. There are two barrels, the one for a shotgun shell's payload and another with a small sort of ignition device that has a small purple flame coming out of it with a kind of nozzle behind the flame. It's pump-action with a small magazine and a small oil canister separate from it. He tells me, "Oh, this is Torchbearer. Six shells a magazine with a spray of fire. The canister lasts way more shots than the shells do, but if I switch to flamethrower or torch mode by changing the handle's degree from angled to aligned with the barrels, then the shell gate becomes blocked and the flame from the bottom barrel is the only one that fires and in a steady stream as I keep the trigger held. Yours?"

I grab Amber King from my back and show him, joking, "A fellow pump-action man! Amber King changes modes from sort of energy beams in powerful blasts, or a constant beam, or wide blasts like a shotgun."

He nods, understanding, and suggests, "We should probably re-establish the furthest point we made on the perimeter. We can stop the Grimm from making any ground."

I nod, "Alright, let's do it. You take point. I've got you covered from a distance."

He gives me a thumbs up and sets the pace to at least twice the speed Terra and I had. I like his hustle. I follow him past a tree line to a pretty clear area and he holds up a fist, "King Taijitu. Get ready."

I nod and he disables the flamethrower part of his weapon, worried about our surroundings and I look around for the hostile. Dutch dives forward, avoiding an attack from it as it makes an attempt at his life. He fires after at it after landing, only earning aggravation from it as its black skin is too thick for the pellets to pierce. It zips past him and swings its tail quickly, knocking him down as it crosses his chest and he's on his back, trying to recover his air. I fire at its back as it attempts to flee and I can tell my blasts leave their mark on it. I help Dutch up and I tell him, "Might have to use that thing for melee."

He nods and changes his handle, the flame beneath the nozzle reigniting at a higher level than before, small spikes coming out of the bottom of the weapon in front of the end of the weapon's pump, making it resemble something of a brutal club that bludgeons before setting an enemy ablaze. We move to the center of the clearing to keep an eye out for where our threat will strike. I hear a sound of a few branches moving to my right and prepare for an attack, yelling at Dutch, "Over there!"

It comes out and attempts to catch either of us in its jaws but we're both quick to dive out of the way to the left. In the same instant I dive, I change Amber King to dispersed shot and fire a few shots while its body is close to me during its attempt to slither away. I see that my rounds leave a dent in the scaling, breaking some off and apart, revealing red flesh underneath and reason that dispersed shot is better than Dutch's pellet spread in this case. He's swinging Torchbearer at the oversized snake, tearing off some of its scales with the club spikes while singeing other parts as it evades us. As it leaves my close range mode, I switch once again, blasting it as it flees and tell my partner, "You wait for me to attack it first. After that, I want you to aim for the places where it's weakened. What's your Semblance?"

He tells me, "I can make the burnt material of something flammable."

I'm confused, "Meaning?"

He waves a hand casually at my question, "Meaning, if something was already set on fire, I can make it burn even worse a second time."

I nod, "Oh damn, that sounds great in this case! I'm going to try to weaken it some more. You get it when it comes your way."

I run a little towards the part of the tree line it took and I hear a hiss from ahead and to my right. It dives for me once it sees a chance and I attempt to dodge, but fail. Its fangs sink into my right leg as I leap and I can feel the immediate burning of venom spreading from the spot. It's after that that I realize I'm in the grip of its maw and it lifts me up by the leg. I awkwardly dangle upside down and curl my body up, bashing its right eye, opening its mouth in pain. I aim and fire a beam through the bone that is its fangs, grazing part of my leg's tissue, but it doesn't feel anywhere as bad as it does internally. I fall to the ground a good ten feet and land on my back and grunting before I yell to Dutch, "Some help!?"

He's already behind me when I land and he chuckles, "This is where you die."

He snaps his left hand's fingers and the burnt skin all over the Grimm glows the same shade of purple as Dutch's trim before he pulls the trigger of Torchbearer in its shotgun mode. As soon as flame bursts from the end of his weapon's nozzle, the rest of the Taijitu's skin is set ablaze with the judgment of purple flame. Even the inside of its mouth where my beam split off the fangs explodes into the same punishment. I let out a small cheer as the creature fades away but the enjoyment of its demise is interrupted by the increasingly painful sensation in my right leg. I close my eyes in pain and groan at Dutch, "C-Can you roll up my—agh!—my pant leg!?"

He takes the padded greave off of around my shin and rolls it up and makes a sort of 'Hissh' sound at the sight and I ask, "How's it?"

I angle myself to look at the bite and it already looks pretty bad. There're two small, black holes with splotches of blood around them from the pressure of the grieves being pressed on them. I try to stand up but an intensely sharp pain, like a knife being grinded against the bones is sent through my leg by the damaged nerves, the toxin being necrotic in nature. Dutch offers me a hand and I take it, him lifting me onto his shoulders and tells me, "I'm taking you back to Tirrian. I'm sure he can help you with this."

I nod and don't argue but can't help but feel like an idiot. I'm incapacitated but not even in the second period of the watch, but in a break in between. As he brings me, I give everyone the heads up on what's happening, "Yeah… this is Munsell. I got bitten by a King Taijitu in the leg. So… not looking good."

When we get there, some of the others are concerned but Tirrian just announces, "Let him through. He's alright."

Dutch puts me down in a folding chair that Professor Tirrian brought with himself and the second my leg touches ground, pain jolts through my body, especially through my leg. He peels back my pant leg and groans, "Oooh… that looks pretty bad. Seems that your Semblance has kept the damage and swelling in check."

I nod, but sound a little constipated by the pain of the wound being exposed to the air, "Yeah, but I used two whole batteries to keep it in check. I'm running out of juice on them, though. How is it?"

I'm about to look but he puts his computer in my lap, angled in a way where the screen is blocking him from vision, "Keep up with that. It's tracking everyone else through their headpieces. Give me a heads up if any alerts come on the screen."

I try to look peek around the screen and he has his body angled so that I'm not able to see it. I feel a small stab in my skin and the sensation of additional liquid floods into my leg, creating an additional burning sensation through the nerves on top of their current damage. My body clenches in pain, my eyes looking to the sky above me and yell, "What did you do!?"

He chuckles, "Nothing. Just some anti-venom right now to alleviate some of the damage and prevent it from spreading or becoming too much worse."

I groan a little as the burning sensation of the anti-venom spreads through the rest of my leg, "'Worse!?'"

He nods, "Yepp. It's gonna get worse before it becomes any better. We're gonna need to take you back to the school so that they can treat you better than what I can. Luckily we have a stretcher, so…"

He motions at Dutch, "Well… you're gonna need to help me out here. Munsell, I'll give your W.H.I.N.E.R. to someone else in your team, but we've got to get you back to Beacon."

Nadeshiko and Demeter arrive and she asks, "Are you alright!?"

I nod, "Yeah, but Tirrian won't let me see my leg. It's not that bad, right?"

He tells us, "Look, we need to get him out of here. We're not wasting any more time!"

Nadeshiko nods and helps to place me on the stretcher, strapping me in, Tirrian confused, "You've got it the whole trip back?"

She confirms and points to Dutch, "You roam with Demeter. Take this to Terra."

She hands him the laser pointing device and picks up the side of the stretcher where my head is, Tirrian leading the path from the side with my legs. His pace is quick for someone weighted down by my body, and Nadeshiko keeps up. I look up to where my leg is because the pain is starting to become something unbearable and I immediately regret it. The tissue is a dark sort of green with a mix of blue and purple throughout it from the swelling of the muscle. I put my head back down and I'm looking at the sky above me and part of Shiko's upper that enters my vision and she tells me, "You shouldn't have looked! Just breathe. Focus. Take your mind off of it!"

I nod and close my eyes and remember that I was going to talk to Tirrian about hosting the costume party. I try to get his attention, groaning through grit teeth and clenched eyes, "Yo, Tirrian."

I hear him, same casual tone as always, "Whaddup?"

I ask him, "You get… any vol—unteers for… first year host… for the coming party?"

He tells me, "Not yet. You interested in 'applying'?"

I nod, even if he can't see it, "Yep. Thought about… giving it a go."

He praises me, "Nice. Not many people have the dedication to prepare the event, let alone host it. I'll get everything you need to know to you after this is all over."

I give a thumbs up and feel myself drifting away. I fade to black, the throbbing in my leg too much for my head to stay conscious through.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 **Preparations**

 **A/N: Hey, everyone. It's Aldo7Aces, and I'm glad that I'm presenting this update faster than its predecessors. I want to recommend Porter Robinson's 'Worlds' album. I ship out to boot camp in a month… so yeah… exciting but stressful. I want to get more updates out before I ship, so here's hoping that I can do it. Also, I want to ask you guys for help. I usually come up with the names for everything I make, but this time, I wanted to get an idea from you guys. This chapter, Munsell finishes making his energy SMG and I have a name in mind, but I wanted to somehow get those interested few involved. So, message me weapon names and stuff and I'll pick out a few names and figure out how to pick them. Just read the weapon's description towards the end of the chapter and message me on my social media (all of my accounts are in Chapter 1's A/N, so go there to see what I have besides G-Mail). Also, I might take some of the other names besides the chosen one and use them (or some variation) in the second book in my Sanctuary series if you guys don't mind. Sorry for this long-winded note, so I'll leave you guys to it.**

I wake up and I see teams JNPR, RWBY, and the rest of RGNT gathered around me in a U-shape. We're in Beacon's infirmary and by the light pouring in through the windows, it must be a little after today's classes finished. My leg is suspended by a sort of pulley-looking device, a sort of drip attached to my arm and I chuckle, "Whelp… looks like I'm not going to get much walking…"

Jaune asks, "How you feeling, buddy?"

I shrug, "Like puke. My leg still kinda burns and I have a killer migraine right now."

Carmine tells me, "Well, hope you're not too tired to file your report over today."

I sigh, "Yeah… at least I won't have to write as much as everyone else. Did I hurt our grade?"

Ruby shakes her head, "No. Professor Tirrian said that your grade would be the same as everyone else."

I'm surprised, "Why?"

Weiss explains, "Because you've done your part as a leader. You taught your teammates how to cooperate and adapt, so you're grade would be anything they earned."

I nod comprehension and tell them, "Well… I'm glad you guys came to pay me a visit. You can go, because I know you have things to do. Oh wait, Ruby, I need to talk to you about something."

She nods, "Sure. You guys head on without me."

Blake asks, a little worried, "You don't think he needs rest? I mean, he has a headache. Maybe he should relax. Wait for later."

I shake my head, immediately aware of what she's getting at, "Don't worry, Blake. I'm fine. I wouldn't say anything stupid or that I'd regret later."

She understands what I mean and gives me a small thumbs up before everyone leaves. I ask Ruby, "How are you?"

She shrugs, and sits on my bed, "I'm alright. I was concerned when I heard you were bitten."

I shake my head and grab her hand, "That's not what I meant."

She blushes and tells me, "I had fun on Saturday… if that's what you mean… Wondering when we could do something like that again…"

I chuckle but refocus my attention, "About that… I have something to tell you."

Her face widens a little by surprise, "Yeah…? What is it?"

I tell her, "I'm kind of… doing the same thing with Nadeshiko that I'm doing with you."

She's confused, "Huh? Doing what?"

I blush, "Trying to date… both of you. Not like cheating or anything! Just… I guess testing the waters, in a way…"

She nods, getting what I mean and I ask her, "Are you alright with that?"

She takes a few seconds to think about it then nods, "Yeah. It's not like any of us is in a relationship, so that doesn't make it anything wrong. I'm alright with it."

I let out a breath of relief and chuckle, "Alright. Thanks. That's all I needed."

She hugs me around the shoulders and I hug back, Ruby telling me, "Sure. I'll be going now. Hope you get better, Munsell."

She leaves and I look to my right and see that my computer has been left on a small table next to my bed. I grab it and place it awkwardly into my lap and open it up. I hear the voice of Professor Tirrian entering the ward and pick my head up to look at him, "Hey, Munsell. I brought you the information you wanted. Maybe you can get a look at some of the stuff with your computer there and prepare the event for you and your fellow first years. Also… the rest of your work this week."

I sigh, "It's so much…"

He shrugs, "Well, look at it this way: you can finish it at your own pace."

He heads out and leaves me to my own devices. I sort through the papers relating to the party and set them aside. I see an email notification from Terra and it reads, 'You won't believe what I just got.'

I reply, 'What? A new game not out on shelves yet?'

She responds, 'No. I sent that video of you singing _'_ _Reset'_ by _'_ _Shroud of Gold'_ to their social media manager, and he wants to get in contact with you.'

I raise a brow, surprised, 'Sure. Shoot him my email.'

I get to starting my work, half-focused and about a few minutes later, I get a message from some guy named Orville Messer, 'This Munsell? The one who karaoked _'_ _Reset'_?'

I respond, 'Yeah. That's me. What's up?'

He tells me, 'Well, our lead singer wanted to talk to you, seeing how you must be enrolled in Beacon, right?'

I answer, 'Yeah. First year. How's he want to get in touch?'

Orville replies, 'Scroll. You available to chat?'

I confirm, 'Yeah. I'm able to talk for a bit. Here's my info.'

I send my contact info and try to work for a bit, getting another couple problems answered before my Scroll vibrates. I pick up and hear the voice of the lead singer from _'_ _Shroud of Gold'_ , "Nice job singing. I'm Ramses Apollo. What's up, dude?"

I chuckle, a little star struck, "Yeah… why the interest in contacting me?"

He replies, "Well, I'm sure you're aware, but we try to interact with our fans and stuff, but you're in Beacon. My best bud and I were partners there a couple of years before we started the band, and we enjoy donating to the school. But… I know that the big costume event is coming up, right?"

I nod, trying to type with my left hand, as I hold the Scroll in my right hand, "Yeah… why?"

He laughs a little on the other line, "Because your partner told us you were 'stupid enough to organize' the first years' afterparty and we wanted to help. Also, my team's leader was in the same spot as you when we were there."

I chuckle, "Yeah… well, it says here on this form, that I should arrange some entertainment, 'i.e. music/games and the ilk' so I guess… are you guys down for a live performance then?"

He laughs on the other side of the line, "Yeah, man. We don't have another tour or are recording an album until a couple months, so, we already talked and have wanted to do something at Beacon, just needed an opportunity."

I chuckle, "Well… that covers one of the things I needed to get done. So… the fee? Like the charges? I have a certain amount I can use, I'm sure you know."

Ramses refuses, "Nah, man. Free. We've already discussed it amongst ourselves. Free."

I shake my head, "Alright… well, as much as I would like to keep chatting, I have class work to. Is that everything?"

He lowers his voice a little, "Heard you needed some costumes."

My attention is piqued once again, "Yes…? What of it?"

Ramses replies, "Your partner said she could hook us up with some of that new VR stuff if we got you guys outfits… are you fine with the trade?"

I'm shocked by how much Terra had relayed to them before giving me the actual chance of talking to them or anything, "…Yeah… sure. As long as her dad's fine with it."

He laughs on the other side, "Good, because arrangements have already been made!"

With that, he hangs up, leaving me to sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose.

I alternate between my class assignments and figuring out what to do for our afterparty over the course of the next week and this is what I have down. We first years have the athletic hall as our location to party, a considerably large venue.

Decorations (which have to go up the day of the party…): Predominantly orange, black, and yellow banners across the walls, several fake pumpkins and posters from the Artistry Department (they wanted a place to show their stuff besides the Artistry hallway, so I offered), tons of props and I mean tons! Horror movie icons and Grimm alike.

Entertainment: _'_ _Shroud of Gold'_ will be performing through the night (of course, this goes without saying), outside will be a fighting stage for those craving a more action-orientated source of fun (the stage used whenever Goodwitch's classroom is unavailable), a costume contest, and several other things like a sixteen-player video game rig (provided by Terra's dad), gyroscope, mechanical bull-riding, a haunted house through the locker rooms, and an outdoor laser tag game, opposite the fighting stage, and much, much more.

Food: Plenty of it (duh).

Chaperones: Only the best of the best. Professors Tirrian, Torn, both Greys, Amber, and Chroma.

There's a leftover amount of about twenty percent in the budget, so Tirrian allows me to split it equally between the other three afterparty hosts to plan their events.

I'm allowed out of the infirmary on Saturday morning, my leg's swelling having disappeared on Thursday, but the pain and nerve damage finished Friday. I return to my team's dorm, changing from my plain shirt and pants and into my standard outfit. I head to the cafeteria to try and catch everyone else having breakfast. When I walk in and up to our usual table, they're surprised, especially Nadeshiko. They cheer out my name in several different ways and I sit down while it seems that they've barely started eating. I chuckle as both Nora and Nadeshiko hug me and I ask, "Why so much love? You guys visited each day. Well… excluding RWBY. Where were they yesterday?"

Jaune tells me, "Uhm… they left earlier in the morning. Well… everyone except Blake. She's been missing since Friday."

I'm surprised, "She's been gone since Friday? Morning or afternoon?"

Carmine tells me, "Uh, evening, actually. Her and Weiss had been arguing the whole day. Kind of distracted their team from coming to visit, you know… handling them and keeping them from killing each other."

I nod my understanding, "Yeah… I can see that. I've noticed that they've become more and more aggressive toward each other in their arguments. Well, I'm gonna get some breakfast. The same meals every day in a recovery bed starts to kill the taste buds."

I get up and so does Nadeshiko, telling me, "You missed Terra kicking Cardin's ass."

I chuckle, "Haha, really? That sounds like fun for everyone involved… except him, haha."

She nods, "Yep. She essentially tazed him until he gave up!"

I laugh pretty loudly, several people turning to me and I ask her, if I know my partner, "Let me guess… she had you record it?"

Shiko nods through a giggle, "Uh huh. It was gold. EVERYONE wanted to get the link for it."

I nod, "I figure. Man, I need to see it. Wish I could've been there."

I finish getting the rest of my breakfast together and sit with my team and JNPR, asking, "So, you guys ready for the party in the next few weeks?"

They nod and Jaune asks, "How much do you already have planned?"

I shrug, "Like most of it. All I have to do is get volunteers who want to help setting it up on the day of. Luckily volunteers get classes off that day, haha."

Nora's extremely interested, "OOOO! What kind of things do you have scheduled!?"

I chuckle at the heavy's excitement, "Uh… games and stuff. A dueling stage, laser tag, mechanical bull… uh… a lot of stuff. Just wait till the party."

She whines, "Oh come on, Munsell! You can't promise a girl a good time without telling her what she's waiting for!"

The entire group chuckles, and Pyrrha asks, "How's your leg?"

I shrug and eat a forkful of egg, "Meh. It feels slightly numb, and the outside edges of my eyes hurt a little still, but other than that, I'm pretty good. How'd you guys handle the rest of Monday's mission?"

Terra tells me, "Well, we got a pretty good overall grade. An eighty-seven. Had a few more scrapes with Grimm, but we handled it well and intervened where we could."

I nod understanding and Carmine mentions, "Terra told us that we're getting costumes because of her. Is this true?"

I nod and pull out my Scroll, looking for the three most recent downloaded pictures, "These will be your outfits. They haven't told sent me what mine looks like, but they promise it'll be good."

I show each of my team mates their designated costumes. Carmine's is a sort of post-apocalyptic scavenger. It's a brown jacket with faded, dark red padding under it at the chest, three fake ammo belts wrapped around the shoulders to the waist above the jacket, the third wrapped around the waist under the jacket. The jacket has spiked studs on the shoulders with black gloves that each have three small spikes at the knuckles. It comes with worn-looking black chaps, an air filter mask for the mouth with some goggles that have a red 'X' painted across the glass, a helmet with a singular spike at the top of it. He gives me a thumbs up and passes it over to Terra.

Hers is a vampiress costume of a main black color with regal gold and red trim. It's composed of a fancy-looking corset with a neck ribbon, small cape connected to the shoulders, covered with a light upper blouse that's buttoned closed, ending at her lower ribcage. There's a waist cape that goes down to the back of the calves while it also comes with heeled boots that go up to the mid thigh. She comments, "Not bad. But I wish it didn't have such big heels…"

Carmine laughs, "Ha, really? Your shoes' soles are like… almost the same with the empty space they have!"

She snaps back at him, "Yeah, but 'almost the same' isn't 'the same', is it? Those are custom made and help me stay light on my feet. Those serve a purpose. Heels… are just useless…"

She passes it to Nadeshiko and hers is a shrine maiden outfit. It's mainly dark blue with sakura pink strands in the kimono's sleeves with a big, pink bow wrapped around the waist, holding a long pleated skirt that reaches around the ankles, complimented with dark blue socks that reach halfway up the calves with sandals to finish off the outfit. She giggles and claps a little, excited, "Ooo, it looks great! I might go without the sandals, though…"

I nod and she asks, "Why haven't they told you what your costume looks like?"

I shrug, "Dunno. Seems like something planned, though."

I ask, "So what do you guys have planned for this weekend?"

Ren speaks up this time, "We were actually just planning to train and stuff. Week's been full of stress. Not much else on our minds."

I shrug, "Alright. Well, I'm gonna go back to our dorm and try to come up with a poster design that I can print out to get volunteers. Maybe might even work on my new weapon idea."

I get up to go, joined by Nadeshiko as she tells me, "I want to keep writing some more, so maybe you can help give me ideas."

I lightly chuckle, "You've got a deal if you can help me with my poster design."

We get back to the room and we push our beds together, both of us ready with our computers. Nadeshiko is halfway through a page, her cursor blinking twice each second, like a steady heartbeat and I open a new project on my program, greeted by black space, the only way to tell it's actually three-dimensional is by an X/Y axis grid with an additional line in the center to mark the Z axis. I immediately start off by making a black rectangle the dimensions of a sheet of paper. I save it and tell her, "Done. It advertises exactly what I expect from others, the same as I would from me. Darkness and a terrible soul."

Shiko giggles, "That's some dark shit, Munsell."

I chuckle and tell her, "Seems like those Confidence classes have really helped you out."

She rests her head on my shoulder and tells me, "Nah. I'm just more comfortable with you guys than strangers."

I retort, "Pssh. That's BS. So what do _you_ need help with your book?"

She shrugs, "Don't know. I'm not great at thinking of fights… so that's where I'm stuck right now."

I nod, "You said the main character can alter time, right?"

She nods, "Yeah."

I point at her computer's screen, "Where're they fighting?"

She shrugs, as if the info wouldn't help at all, "A bar."

I become more specific, "Bar counter? A table? Booth? How many people nearby? Any close glasses? Chairs?"

Shiko's eyes open wide, "Whoah! That's so much! Bar counter… um… there're two glasses, the main character's and a guy who arranged to 'provide him information'. The other guy just wants to kill him, though, so he has a concealed handgun in his jacket."

I nod and ask, "Are there other people that the guy has ready to attack? I mean, if I was doing the job, I'd want to make sure it would follow through."

She nods, "Yeah, seven of them, spread out through the packed bar."

I give a small thumbs up and ask, "So is he going for kills or just incapacitation?"

She replies, "Incapacitation. He's one of the good guys, so…"

I confirm my understanding, "Alright, so how does his control over time work? Like, is he able to rewind it or slow it down? How big of a drain is it?"

She giggles a little, "Man, you're really into this kind of stuff, huh? Well, he can slow down time, speed himself up, slow down other things he touches, or all of them at the same time, but the more things he does at once, the more draining. Like big time draining. He needs two hours of rest to fully recuperate his energy, able to double his speed for an hour, make thirty minutes pass in an hour, or cut something's speed in half for an hour."

I laugh before I come up with a suggestion, "Well, I love superheroes and stuff. Uh… I guess he's rested before coming to the bar. Does the other guy start the fight?"

Nadeshiko nods and I continue, "Well, in the moment he tries to throw the first attack, the main guy slows time down to catch it. He slams the guy's face against the counter, lets him drop to the floor. Doesn't know the dude has a pistol. Guy pulls it out, but not before main dude notices. He slows down time, right? Also speeds himself up and slows the guy down, makes him eight times faster, in essence, yeah? So, he gets his hold on the guy's pistol, disarms the guy, and presses his shin against the dude's throat, cutting off air flow, knocking him out. How's that?"

She nods, "Yeah, yeah! That's pretty good! I've got the rest covered, but just needed to get it started. So, you can't think of anything?"

I shake my head, "Nope. Ain't got a one."

She giggles, "Well you could probably start by putting the academy logo."

I face palm, "Yeah… I must have some terrible school spirit or something."

I put a transparent white watermark of the Beacon logo against the black and Shiko suggests, "Maybe 'Help Wanted', or 'Volunteers Needed', or something like that as the title."

I shake my head, "Nah. Common mental behavioral trends show that people are less likely to do something out of charity than if they were rewarded for their assistance. So… how about…"

I type in some bold, bright orange letters to contrast the black, 'Take Friday Off!' and then type under it in smaller text, 'After helping out with setting up the first years' after party. All volunteers are dismissed from their classes for the day to aid in preparation. If finished early, the rest of the day can be spent as you want. All those interested, contact Munsell Regent at:'.

I put my email, Scroll contact, and social media under the information for the volunteers and dust my hands off against each other, "There."

Shiko laughs, "As if! That looks boring! Put a border and maybe some 'spooky' pictures. That'll get people's attention."

I sigh, "But that's so lame…"

She giggles, "Yeah, but common 'mental behavioral trends' show that people our age focus more on 'spooky' pictures this time of the year."

I shake my head at her and grumble, "Fine…"

We both work silently (excluding the sound of keys) and adjust our respective works over the course of the next half hour and show each other when done. I added a border of cartoon skeletons (just copied and pasted the same 2D one I made in the course of two minutes, mirroring it on both sides for consistency). The Beacon logo is located in the center of the top, bottom, left, and right edges of the 'sheet' and a few cheap clip images that match the season. I read the full page that Nadeshiko added to her book and her writing style is great! Very descriptive, no inconsistencies, and it sounds very original. A world where people don't have Semblances or Auras and only people like the main character have powers like he does (a one out of one-hundred thousand chance, apparently). Man, I can't _IMAGINE_ living life like that!

I convert my 3D project (it may look 2D, but being made in a 3D software makes some things a challenge) into an image, putting it onto a text file as an image, and then tell Nadeshiko, "I'm headed to the library to print out the posters and hang them up."

She gets up and offers, "I'll help put them up. I know several places that are popular hotspots."

I chuckle, "Like what? A water fountain at the girl's lockers?"

Shiko giggles, "Actually yeah. It has the coldest water in the school and it's a thing you boys will never experience."

I sigh, "Just when I thought this school was about equal treatment…"

We head out of the dorm room and towards the library and Nadeshiko waits while I go up to one of the librarians behind a counter, "I want to print out a file. It's for one of the parties."

She smiles lightly and nods, taking my Scroll and asking, "Is it 'Poster'?"

I smile, "Yes, thank you."

She asks, "How many copies?"

I reply, "Uhm… a hundred."

She nods and they start printing out and I ask, "Can I borrow two things of tape?"

She hands me two dispensers and I hand one to Nadeshiko. The librarian hands me my posters in two equal piles and I give Nadeshiko one while I put the first poster on the front of the counter, "You guys get the honors of the first one."

The librarian chuckles and we head out of the library doors, Shiko putting a poster on each of the front doors of the library and she tells me, "I'm headed my own way with mine. I'll message you when I finish."

I nod and she leaves me in the hallway, while I seek out spots for my other forty-nine posters. I put four on the outside of the cafeteria, two at the front where the serving counters are, a few in the other upperclassmen dorm halls, near the athletic hall, and the last few occupy spaces near Vytal festival posters. I get a message from Nadeshiko about two minutes after that, reading, 'See you back at the dorm. I finished.'

I reply, 'Yeah, sure' and head along my way.

Back at the dorm, Nadeshiko has a tray of sandwiches and I sigh, thankful, "Oh, those look so good right now."

She asks me as she takes a decently sized bite out of her first sandwich, "Whut are yoo goind dthu do now?"

I go to my case of materials that holds my current partial project, "Making my energy SMG."

She claps, "Oooo, that sounds like an endeavor."

I have the gun barrel ready and the iron sights also double as the relay loop for the energy of the blade, but ironically… I don't have the handgrip that holds the battery ready. Shiko asks, "Hasn't it been that way for days now?"

I reply, "Yeah. The way Amber King works with my Semblance is that the metal shielding over the loaded battery allows me to transfer my energy through it to the battery. Only downside about the metal is that it heats up. Luckily I don't have my hands on it the whole time… unlike the SMG handle will be."

She's confused, "I don't see how it's different."

I tell her, "Well, the hand grip for Amber King is made of a polymer. The polymer is nowhere near the heated metals during discharge. However, for the SMG, the metal that would be the container for the battery can't be wrapped by the polymer, otherwise it would only melt after long time exposure. Long story short, I can't figure out a way to make a handle without burning my hand."

She asks me, "Have you ever considered a hollow handle?"

I'm confused now, "'Hollow'?"

She nods and hands me Sheena, "Remember how the system in my blades works?"

I nod as I look at the hollowed sheath and sword blade, "Yeah?"

She tells me, "Just adopt the same system. Kind of."

The more I look at them, the more I get inspired by the design. It then clicks in my head how I'm going to do it. I cheer, "SHIKO, YOU JUST HELPED ME FINISH IT!"

She blushes and smiles as I pick her up from her bed and spin with her in my arms, me laughing and Nadeshiko giggling. I stop spinning and she puts her feet back on the ground, still in my arms. We both blush and I'm about to let her go… but she wraps her arms around the back of my neck and I blush a deeper shade of red. She tells me, "I… don't mean to make you feel awkward."

I shake my head, "N-No, you're good. I didn't mean to surprise you when I picked you up or anything…"

She nods and we both look away from each other, "You're fine."

We stand together awkwardly and I'm the first one to break the embrace, feeling like a jerk a little bit, "Yeah, so now I just have to make the hand grip."

I get Amber King's modification kit ready since it can double as a set of modeling tools for my 3D projects. I have a mechanical printer at the home my parents owned, but it's not possible to bring it to a place like this, so I have to make due. Nadeshiko just speaks quietly, "Yeah… I'll get back to my book."

I feel terrible for how I ended the moment… Am I just not ready for trying to _act_ on my feelings… or just something else entirely. The design for the gun handle is kind of intricate. It's like… two circles, right? A smaller one in the middle. They're both extended, a hollow space formed between the two because of the extension to keep the heat in the center tube, the outer one acting as the actual grip for the weapon, with grooves for holding it comfortably. The bottom of the handle has a sliding lid that holds the battery in place. It's a long, arduous process, making the handle, and takes about an hour of time but when I'm done, man is it satisfying.

I chuckle, "Can't wait to test this baby out!"

Shiko asks me, "What are you gonna call it?"

I ponder for a little, some ideas going through my head, but I shrug, "Don't know yet. I want to have some fun with it first before I give it a name."

Ideas are already rushing through my head for potential moves and transitions. There's a blade that come out of the front of the barrel lined with a few small energy emitters with the push of a button. The weapon has four energy blade modes and two firing modes. Twisting one of two knobs changes them. For the blade mode, it changes the projected blade from exiting through the iron sights to the micro-bayonet if it is extended, to off, or both on at the same time. For firing, there's a lens that concentrates the energy fired at a rapid interval, creating small energy projectiles. Switching modes moves the lens vertically out of the barrel, causing it to act as a reflex sight and firing a constant stream of energy instead of rapid projectiles. A tool for every situation, close and long range and I'm proud of it. Nadeshiko asks me, "Do you have extra batteries?"

I nod and grab one from duffel bag of stuff. I have another three, should the need ever rise, and this is a pretty considerable need. Now instead of carrying five, I'll be carrying six. One in each weapon, four in the carrier. I check my phone, and apparently, I'm popular. A combined total of twenty-three messages about volunteering. I add them all into a group chat app that everyone in Beacon downloaded onto their Scrolls and start to answer some of their questions after welcoming them to the group. Time. Who's doing what. People who will be filling in odd jobs. Yada yada, the works. It's surprisingly demanding, as more people steadily want to come work and join our ranks of dedicated people/lazy workers (due to benefits, of course). I add people to the group, but before adding them, send them each the same copied message, telling them to look at the top of the chat to answer some of the commonly asked questions.

I leave it at that and yawn. I'm surprisingly tired and have a headache and remember what the doctor told me before letting me leave, "Don't try to do anything that requires a lot of mental strain. Classwork may be fine, but nothing over the top."

I chuckle at myself, my head throbbing and tell Nadeshiko, "I'm just gonna nap. My head hurts, so let Terra and Carmine know before they come in."

I lie down and close my eyes, still wearing my standard outfit. When the night rolls around, I wake up and notice everyone else is asleep. I sigh, get changed into a change of sleeping clothes and steal, like three of Carmine's snack cakes before getting back to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 **Social Hour(s)**

 **A/N:**

Hey, sorry everyone for the super late update! This is going to be a little long-winded so stick with me… My computer needs to be repaired and I've been busy. I lost a lot of files but luckily, most weren't important, my videos and music having been transferred to my phone's SD card, so no major losses except for retyping this chapter on my phone. I went to Marine boot camp and MCT these past few months. So, yeah… unannounced departure with delayed… sorry. Umm… Music suggestion… Avenged Sevenfold's 'The Stage' album.

I really want to let you guys know that I appreciate how far you've read till now and stuck it out. I really want to thank you guys. Sorry to be so late… like all the time. Another chapter, much quicker than four months is coming, I swear!

Also, looking for artists I can commission for drawing my characters, so, yeah… email me if interested, and submit something. Again, thank you.

It's the Friday of the party and I'm directing my various volunteers from each year of the academy. Well… not just me. Weiss is helping. We were asked by Shroud of Gold to sing one of their new songs at the after party. She was skeptical at first, asking if it was some sort of promotional deal but Ramses cleared it up by telling her that it's only something for fun and that it was up to her if she wanted to leave me alone or not to do it.

She's so much like Carmine. When we started, I didn't know how much she put into her singing. We warmed up for the past two weeks for an hour, Weiss's nagging forcing me to take her habits seriously and to participate in them. I asked if she had any event planning experience and her eyes practically lit up. She offered her help without question.

From proper poster placement to plenty of space for socializing between the entertainment. A man in a dark blue suit with industrial styled mahogany hair and a sky blue hex-patterned tie arrives comes up to me, "So you're my daughter's partner? My internal network of consoles will be here soon. Just tell me where you want them and I'll tell my boys."

I nod and point to the opposite sides of the athletic hall, "There and there so they can communicate strategy without the other group hearing."

He nods and tells me, "Hope you kids have fun tonight."

He seems to be a very selective and well-thought speaker, very opposite of Terra. He walks off, hands hiding in his pockets, looking around with interest. A tap on the back of my right shoulder catches my attention. I turn around and am greeted by the band mates of Shroud of Gold: Ramses Apollo, Eury Dice, Miriam Vortex, and Freki Riveaux. Team REVR (Reaver) by our standards.

Ramses, the lead singer, is wearing a zipped, hoodless, black leather jacket with a thin layer of some sort of polymer weaving over it in a grate pattern, almost unnoticeable without paying close attention. It has a long left sleeve but no right one, having been ripped or torn off, indicated by the patch job done to preserve that portion of the jacket. In its place is a gold shoulder cape covering down to his hand, a black metal-scaled gauntlet underneath, a black, fingerless glove with gold studs at the end of the gauntlet. He has a similar gold-colored waist cape coming out of his jacket to his lower calves over the backs of his legs in black pants and combat boots. His hair is short, black, with a golden glow if looked at in the right light, his eyes a dark brown with flecks of gold in them.

Eury, the backup vocalist/lead guitarist with the occasional verse or two in some of their songs, is wearing a yellow jacket with its sleeves rolled up to her elbows, black bracers of a tough leather with metal plates on the backs of them. The jacket is zipped halfway up her chest, revealing her emblem, three white E's in (of course) a dice shape on her black shirt. Her pants are also black but she's wearing lightweight shoes similar to Terra's that are grey. Eury's faded blonde hair is shoulder-length, her eyes a pronounced red hue.

Miriam, the drummer, is in a purple muscle shirt (is that what it's called for girls?) with a black medical cross made of four shotgun shells. Her pants are a dark olive color and are pretty loose-fit, almost baggy. She has heavy boots on and the top of her pants have two straps holding an assortment of pouches. Miriam's hair is long and brown, hanging it all over her right shoulder, her eyes are a faded light blue, almost white sort of color.

Freki is in a grey winter jacket, similar to Neptune's, except his has a hood with dark blue husky-like fur inside of it. It has small, blue, metal plates on the shoulders and back of the arms. His pants are a darker shade of grey, almost black, but he has two dark blue pistol holsters on the outside of his thighs, his shoes also being of the same blue as his other accessories. Freki's black hair is a little unkempt, his eyes being a dark blue, contrary to Miriam's, almost black.

I greet them all and Weiss shows up, also saying her hellos and I ask, "What are you guys here for?"

Ramses responds, "Well, to set up our band equipment and practice a bit before the party."

I nod and point at the stage, "Well, it's ready for ya."

I notice the number of starstruck volunteers around and wave my hands above my head, "Yo! You're staring! Not… cool! Back to work!"

I laugh a little at their reaction to our guests and plenty are still slowed down but luckily we're almost done. I dismiss some people who have been working the hardest and persuade those that feel like it's unfair for themselves to leave that it's fine.

One of the last things to set up is a system of some overhanging TVs that display the outdoor duel stage and laser tag arena from changing angles, changing game screens from different players, and the stage for the band, each set of TVs in groups of four to show these areas, multiple sets indoors and a few others outdoors to allow people to still be entertained by those events while waiting in line for something else.

After that, we're finished. It looks grand, orange, red, black, and white banners hung across some of the higher parts of the athletic hall, each bearing the academy's emblem. Horror memorabilia and decorations strewn about nicely between everything but still allowing enough space to move and socialize. The locker rooms are something most of the volunteers who worked on it are proud of, having made a truly impressive horror house. Several of our theatre and art students are volunteering to run it for a good two hours. It's a great culmination of our efforts.

I dismiss everyone, leaving us all with a little less than three-and-a-half hours of free time. That means several people will have time to prepare their costumes. Weiss asks me on our walk back to our dorm building, after some visible internal debating, "Would you like to 'hang out' at my team's dorm until everyone returns?"

I'm a little surprised by her asking and nod lightly, seeking companionship just like her. I tell her, "Yeah, that sounds like fun. Just let me get changed before I come over."

She nods and tells me, blushing slightly, "Don't take too long…"

We both temporarily part ways, me speeding up and going ahead of Weiss to make sure she doesn't have to wait long. I enter my team's dormitory and something on my bed immediately catches my attention. It's a folded set of clothes with a metal mask on top of the pile. I grab the mask and examine it. It's identical to one Ramses would wear on stage while performing. The mask has no mouth or nose slots, three small holes in each cheek to allow breathing, two rectangles with black visor-material to allow vision. The metal is pure gold in color, a single black stripe running down the right eye, almost concealing the presence of the black slot.

There's a note stuck on the inside and I grab it. It reads, 'Sorry we kept it a secret so long but we knew you wouldn't mind. Enjoy.' It's signed by each of the band members of Shroud of Gold and their social media manager and I shake my head, dumbfounded by how much came from Coco recording me several weeks ago. The clothes are a black jacket that fades into a type of gold at the tips of its sleeves and the bottom of the torso. It has an extension of a gold waist cape going to the back of the calves, one of my black pants included under the jacket to denote that they'll work with it. I grab a black shirt and put on the jacket, zipping it up to the middle of my ribcage and slip on my pants and current boots.

I walk out and down to the RWBY dorm, mask in hand, knocking on the door and wait. Weiss opens the door and looks me over, "What are you wearing?"

I reply, "A custom outfit from our guests."

I put on the mask and she gives a nod of approval. I ask her after taking the mask back off, "So what are you doing?"

She's organizing different articles of clothing from the closet and tells me, "The other girls asked me if I could prepare their costumes and so I am."

I nod, "What're your costumes?"

Weiss replies as she pulls another outfit from the closet, "Well, Blake's going to go dressed as a ninja, I'll be a necromancer, Ruby'll be a sort of reaper, and Yang's costume is an MMA fighter."

I chuckle. They all seem appropriate. Well… maybe not Weiss's outfit. I'm a little confused, "'Necromancer'?"

She nods and tells me, "Ruby wanted us to match. After some insistence from Blake and Yang, they agreed that we should do something as partners. I humored the thought, but Ruby actually came up with a good idea."

I understand and offer assistance, "Anything you need help with?"

Weiss shrugs, "Maybe with applying face paint to me and Ruby."

She goes into their closet and walks out wearing a dark dress that goes down to her knees, thick leggings going down to her black boots. It seems entirely gothic. Not a single variation in its color. It has long sleeves and she's wearing a large cloak over the dress. The back of it has a brown, faded, decrepit skull printed on the back, looking quite twisted. Myrtenaster has been replaced by a wooden sort of staff and she tells me, "You can help with the facepaint about a half hour before the others show up."

I nod and look at the other costumes. Ruby's is a dress nearly identical to Weiss's except it has lacing and such with crosses and other holy symbols inside of it. It also has a similarly designed corset off to the side for her to wear over the dress. There's a black hood meant to replace her red one and a prop traditional scythe to take Crescent Rose's place.

Blake's ninja outfit is mainly dark purple in the center but progressively becomes a lighter shade the further it goes into the limbs. There's a black scarf that can act as a mouth and nose cover and a black headband with a metal plate in its center. A blade shorter than Nadeshiko's Sheena and some fake throwing knives in a belt are meant to be her 'weapons' instead of Gambol Shroud.

Yang's MMA costume is pretty simple, but effective. It's a black muscle shirt (still wondering if I'm right) that has yellow text reading 'SHUT DOWN' on the back, the 'O' replaced with a red power icon, a bigger one on the front, 'SHUT' perfectly above 'DOWN'. The shorts are yellow and go about two inches past the buttocks, so in short… pretty short. The same text in black on the outside of the thighs and yellow sparring gloves are ready to simulate Ember Celica. She still has to wear shoes due to party rules and restrictions.

Weiss asks me, "So you made a new weapon?"

I nod, excited, "Oh, you mean 'Gold Omen'!?"

She raises a confused brow and nods slowly, "Sure… why?"

I shrug, "Well, because Amon and Barbados are too close range. I needed something capable of range and melee, unlike Amber King or my knuckles."

She adds another query, "Won't it be awkward to add it to your fighting style?"

I give a side nod and shrug, "Yeah but I'm up for the challenge."

Weiss asks, "So how do those batteries of yours work?"

She doesn't know what she's unleashed. I tell her all about how they feed off of my Semblance passively (the container is a sort of resonator with an energy Dust panel in it that needs replacing every two years) and a complex system of conversion rates between the different modes my weapons have.

She seems truly entertained, adding her own input towards how else I can use Dust to improve performance and asking other things in relation to why certain setups work while others don't and within what range of volts, conversion frames, and amperage. The others arrive, accompanied by my team. I let out a surprised 'Huh…' followed by looking at the time. We spent a good while discussing my technology and its applications. I tell GNT, "You guys can get ready. Let me help Ruby and Weiss for a little."

They leave and Weiss just wants me to apply 'grime' around her eyes using the black face paint. With her eyes closed, it almost looks like the sockets of a skull. For Ruby, I have to apply a black layer base followed by a white skeletal design, the same for her hands. Weiss uses a small glyph to make it symmetrical and to ensure that their face paint remains through whatever condition.

That's about seven minutes spent before a knock on the door is heard. Carmine asks, "You guys ready?" We step out and JNPR joins us in the hallway. Their outfits are also quite appropriate for each of them.

Jaune is in an Atlas soldier (the one from that store Ruby and I went to!) and I can hardly hold in a sigh.

Nora is in a poofy, pink dress with long, white boots and gloves. She's wearing a tiny, off-center to the right, golden crown. She is quite literally, the 'Queen of the Castle'.

Ren is in a similarly regal outfit. He's wearing a green kingly sort of long-sleeved shirt with a red cape and brown pants. He has his own crown of normal size.

Pyrrha is dressed as a centurion. She has large pauldrons and an additional chest piece over her corset. Her sword has been replaced by a simpler double-edged Gladius and she's wearing a helmet with a red mane leading from the top of her head to her lower back. All of the new pieces of armor are the same gold as her normal set.

We head out, our motley of costumes making us easily noticeable in normal circumstances but other groups are headed to the cafeteria where the main party is, meaning we're in the norm.

The event is being hosted by the Grey Professors, Port, and Oobleck. The sister of the twins is dressed in a sort of phoenix-woman outfit, her hair dyed red, progressively becoming purple, just like the tips of her outfit. Mr. Grey is dressed as a mummy, Oobleck as an explorer, Port is dressed like a lumberjack, so Ms. Grey definitely takes the winner's crown out of them.

Seeing the other students' outfits that just express themselves in a new way makes me smile.

There're quite a few things around that catch our separate interests. Nora's at a candy bowl that seems to refill every time I look away and back to her. Jaune and Pyrrha are playing a co-op arcade game that involves swordplay while Ren is at a 'Move! Move! Revelation!' machine, moving and transitioning quite smoothly into dance moves not only involving his feet, but also using his arms.

Weiss is watching some of the other students here for the Vytal Festival. Blake is hanging out with Sun… and Neptune… because he can't seem to hang with someone else. Yang's… I don't know where she is. Ruby's going around and taking in everything.

Carmine is trying to talk to some girls. Failing. Terra and Nadeshiko are talking with Professor Grey. Me? I'm just sitting off to the side doing nothing but watching everyone else do their own thing.

I feel a tap on my right shoulder and it's Ruby. She tells me, "Hey, fellow team leader. What're you doing?"

I shrug, "Just watching."

She shakes her head, "That's not okay. You should be having fun! Come here."

She grabs my hand and leads me to the dance floor. I chuckle, "Ruby, I don't dance. I hardly sing."

She doesn't accept my answer, telling me, "I don't think so! You're going to dance because I'm telling you to."

I shake my head lightly, "What if I don't?"

She tells me, "I'll pout and tell Weiss to force you to dance in front of everyone before you two perform tonight!"

She doesn't seem to be joking at all. I let out a breath and tell her, "Alright. What do I do?"

The song seems to be electro-pop and Ruby's moving along with the beat quite smoothly. She notices my tenseness and tells me, "Relax a little! Have fun. If it feels right, do it!"

Her bright expression doesn't match her face paint. She spins me around by the left hand and her cheerfulness is contagious. I start to move a little more. Not as coordinated as her, definitely not like Ren, but my own pace. She's giggling at seeing me dance. Not at thinking that my dancing is stupid, rather that she's enjoying the time we're spending together. Her face paint is staying the same as when I applied it, thanks to Weiss's glyph from earlier. Eventually, I'm worn out from about twenty minutes of dancing and tell Ruby, "You can keep up with it. I'm going to take a break."

I sit back down and the members of my team arrive, sitting with me. Terra asks, "So what're the plans for the evening?"

I give a shrug, "Well… I'm hosting. Won't be able to do anything with you guys until later in the night."

Carmine nods, "Well then… we'll do our own thing until you can join us. So what're we going to do first?"

Shiko replies, "We should play laser tag first."

I nod agreement, "Then… we could do the haunted house after."

Terra pitches in, "Hey, we could probably get a chance to duel."

I smile behind my mask, glad that we came up with something. The party lasts about another three and a half hours, ending at 8:30, us having spent some time with teams COCO, JNPR, and RWBY.

I leave a little before everyone else to get onstage, a microphone in hand. There're four professors chaperoning the event. Two indoors, Chroma and Pitch, the two outdoors running the duel stage and laser tag arena are Torn and Tirrian, respectively. The Grey Professors and Professor Amber will be joining to offer their help in a few minutes. Shroud of Gold isn't here yet but there is a music machine onstage behind me that's playing music through some of the spread out speakers in the hall. Once a decent amount of people file in and are waiting by the manned attractions, I announce, "Welcome, all of you, to the first year after party! We may be inexperienced, but we're the gem of youth at this academy!"

Several people let out a cheer and I continue, taking off my mask, "I, Munsell Regent, will be your host. I hope my choices of entertainment are enough to satisfy you guys. Please, have fun and enjoy yourselves."

Several people clap and cheer before indulging themselves in the temptations of the entertainment around them. I chuckle behind my mask and put the mic back on its stand. I get off of the stage and several people greet me. They really seem to be enjoying everything that's been provided. I roam around, asking people how they like the party. Some respond well, some others get people to take pictures of me with their group, others take selfies with me. I'm more well-liked than I thought.

Some of the girls give me nice hugs, hold my arm while their friend holds the other, take a picture of them kissing my mask's cheek, that being done by a quarter of them. I blush behind my cover, taking the hint, my heartbeat rising.

Some of the guys high five me hard, others try to champion me as their friend, and some try to tell a story with me there to… impress me?... but I remind them I need to make sure everyone's fine.

I find Hale after about ten minutes of keeping my eyes open. I message Terra, 'Found Hale. By the gyroscope.' and say hello, "Hey, Hale. How've you been enjoying the party?"

She gives a nod and tells me, "The food and snacks are good. I'm indifferent to some of the attractions, but the rest I want to use."

I nod, wondering when Terra'll arrive but she does right as I think of it, "Hey, Munsell! I brought you a drink, knowing you must be thirsty under there."

I ask Hale as I take off my mask, "You meet Terra?"

She nods and shakes Terra's hand, "Yeah, we share a couple classes."

I down the cup, "Uh-huh. So you guys take care. I'm going to do some more host things."

I hear Hale mention to Terra, "That was… awkward."

Terra responds, "Yeah, but he's my partner, so what am I s'posed to do?"

They giggle and I shrug. At least they're kicking it to a good start. It's about nine; Weiss and I sing at around ten, after that, I can tone it down on the hosting. Shroud of Gold is getting their equipment ready, everyone in similar outfits. The main feature for everyone is black coats like Ramses's from before (both sleeves, however).

They wear dark colored pants and each has their own golden accessory. Ramses has his mask, Freki sports some black headphones with golden trim, Miriam wears a gold choker with a black buckle, and Eury has donned a golden scarf. Ramses asks as he adjusts his mic, "You guys enjoying the party!?"

The crowd cheers and Eury asks as she tunes her guitar, "You guys ready for some music?"

She gets a resounding cheer before Miriam tells my peers, "We've got about half an hour to warm up before we actually kick off the real stuff. What to play first…?"

People nearby the stage start to SCREAM suggestions for songs and artists. I can tell that the former alumni are enjoying their interaction with the current generation of students. I sigh with satisfaction and start to roam around once again, looking for Weiss after a good amount of time passes.

I find her associating with Neptune, having peeled him away from his Faunus counterpart. I walk up, interrupting their conversation, "Yo. We got ten minutes."

She nods and Neptune asks, "For what?"

She responds, shifting a little as she says, "We're singing together. New song by our guests."

He nods, "Sure. Sounds pretty chill. I'll be listening for sure."

I notice Weiss stiffen a little and she tells him, "I hope... you like it…"

We walk away towards the stage and I elbow Weiss's side, "Nervous for your Prince?"

Weiss blushes and tells me, a little bit timid in comparison to her usual self, "Qu-Quiet you. It needs to be perfect, alright? Can you please do that for me, Munsell?"

Her eyes are soft instead of their guarded, searching norm and I nod, grabbing her pinky with mine, "I promise. Now, don't you chicken out on me at the last second!"

She casts a glyph on herself and her robe and makeup disappear, a pure white dress and boots taking place of what she was wearing, "As if."

We stand a few feet behind Ramses and he moves Eury's mic next to his. He speaks into them as he sets them up, "My young Beacon friends. We have a special gift for you. Your host and the Schnee wonder child will be debuting our new song, 'Dear Anesthesia'."

We stand behind our mics and everyone's quiet. Not even any dueling is taking place outside.

Light and sweet guitar that rips into a heavy rock riff before caing down in the middle where most of the song takes place.

I start, Weiss singing slowly and beautifully in the middle of the verses.

Oh dear Anesthesia

Won't you come and wake me up…?"

*Quick riff.*

You brought me up, you taught me love.

Then I was broken, now I am rough.

(I don't need you)

Now I'm a bastard, it's not enough.

I am a heathen, you hurt too much,

(I don't love you)

Now that I need you, I have tough luck.

I can't keep fighting, I will give up.

So now we go our separate ways,

But I'm the only one who's parted.

You took away every single thing

And gave me just a broken heart and

I know they'll make me sin again

'Cause I'm the bringer, you are the end.

I feel… this… pain… deep in my chest

Within… my… bones… it will never rest.

You will not run, you will not fight

I want your soul tonight.

Please don't deny me

I feel myself dying!

Oh dear Anesthesia

(Oh dear Anesthesia)

Fuel my blood and wake me up

Know that I want you to live

(Know that I want you to live)

The rest of this life I will give

So stay by my side, I'm ready to try

(I'll stay by your side, I'll keep you alive)

You're with me tonight, I'm ready to die

We sing at the same time now.

Oh dear Anesthesia

Chill my soul and make me numb

Take this pain from in my chest

Help me reach my final rest

Take my spirit, take my soul

Because you helped to make me whole

You can take it all, my love

Take my life, take enough…

Weiss creates a glyph underneath our feet and I drop to my knees. She walks up to my side and lowers herself to where her face is near mine, tilting my head to face her. She presses her lips to my mask and her glyph makes ice crystals form on us all over, making us look like an ice sculpture of sorts and I charge our Auras with healing energy, causing us to glow. When the instruments stop playing, we move and the crystals shatter, creating a beautiful display of sparkles that glow and shine in the light.

Our fellow students let out a cheer and clap, creating a commotion of sorts and Ramses claps our shoulders with his hands, "Great job, you two. Definitely a night to remember."

I notice that Weiss's attention has been caught by Neptune and she tells Ramses before leaving, "Agreed."

I look around and spot a certain short-haired scythe user, "Ramses, I thank you for letting me sing that song. See you in a bit."

I walk offstage and have my mind made up.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 **The Culmination of Effort**

 **A/N:** Hey, my readers. I... hehe... actually made it on time. *Pops micro fireworks!* With a lemon in this one no less! First time trying my hand at it, so yeah... please offer feedback if you can/want. Expect more now that we're here!

Music recommendation this time around. Mystery Skulls. So yeah, hope you enjoy.

I walk up to Ruby and she gives me a tight hug and tells me, "That was INCREDIBLE, Munsell! You two sounded great together and the end was sweet."

I address her from behind my mask after she lets me go, "Thanks. Where's Nadeshiko?"

She looks around with a searching expression and has her index finger over her lips, "Hmm... I think she left. I don't see her around."

I nod and look around, about to leave to find Nadeshiko but am stopped by Ruby grabbing my left hand. I divert my attention to her once more and she kisses my mask's cheek, "Good luck, Munsell."

My red blush is hidden by my mask but my awkwardness still comes out through the concealment, "Th-Thank y-you."

Ruby gives me a kind smile as I leave to find Nadeshiko.

I head out and decide to go to my team's dorm, losing no pace to try and catch her. I reach the dorm room and pull out my Scroll in a hurry, trying to hurry so I can confess my feelings to her. I open the door to the sight of Nadeshiko in the middle of putting on another costume. She's without a bra, her back to me and her eyes catch a glimpse of me. She's silent as she covers her chest and turns her attention away from me, "Munsell... you should really knock!"

I start to apologize profusely and she tells me, "You're fine... just let me finish changing." That's when my mind has an internal conflict with itself. It's a lot over what's right or wrong and what I do next is my decision of what feels right.

I come up behind her, my mask in my right hand and toss it onto my bed before I come up behind her and wrap my left arm around her stomach, my right over her arms, my chin resting over her right shoulder. Nadeshiko gasps at the contact I create and stiffens a little. I ask her, nervous about how she'll respond, "What if... I don't... want you to... finish?"

Shiko takes a moment and shirks off my arms gently, "Well... it won't happen..." I figure that she's not comfortable with my intent until she turns and faces me, "unless... you... join me."

I feel my heart catch in my throat and she exposes her breasts to me to slowly wrap her arms around my neck before closing her eyes and planting a gentle kiss upon my lips, to which I accept with just as much want. Nadeshiko presses herself into me as she removes my jacket and shirt, my arms coming around her lower back to hold her tighter.

I slowly move my hands to her skirt after we part so she can remove my shirt over my head, taking a break to breathe. I move my lips to her neck, eliciting gasps and moans from Nadeshiko as I plant kisses along the sensitive skin as she fiddles with my belt. I lay her down on the bed and I back up to remove my boots and whatever else is hanging around my ankles.

I kneel down in front of Nadeshiko's legs and hang them over my shoulders before moving my face closer to her sex. I stop to admire her lower lips and they're a little wet in anticipation of me. I place my mouth onto her pussy, stimulating her as I give her oral through licking, kissing, and biting her nether region. She cries out to let me know to keep going, "That... that... feels i-incredible!"

She gasps and moans as I work and I decide to engage my Semblance. I can use it to affect the body's nerves in a positive way as long as the individual's state is nominal, be it through relaxation, undoing knots, or... stimulating the system. This action elicits more sensual levels of noise from Nadeshiko and I step up the satisfaction as she holds me there with her hands.

I stick my tongue into her folds and use my fingers to twiddle her nub. After about a minute and a half, Nadeshiko orgasms _hard_ as her body jolts and spasms, her fluids coming into my mouth, her legs clamping down on my head along with her hands forcing me deeper as she lets out a scream of pleasure, "Hnyah!"

I drink every drop down before I stand up and hold my body above hers on the bed when she goes limp. Nadeshiko's eyes are closed, her face turned to her left. I bring my lips to her neck and kiss the area as I use my left hand to fondle her breasts while I use my right hand to finger her. Her hands wrap around my back as I engage my Semblance once again. She lets out weak whimpers and moans, telling me that I'm hitting all the right places.

I move my mouth down to her right breast and suck, bite, and lick at the nipple while my left hand pinches, twists, and plays with the other. Nadeshiko's fingers dig into my back as she silently mouths my name, her hips bucking into my hand before one final jolt where her vagina clamps on my fingers and releases a little more fluid, her nails digging in my back.

Shiko says quietly, "You're... too... intense..."

I use some energy to heal and rejuvenate her, "That'll help you to keep up."

She swaps our positions to where I'm underneath her and she presses herself into me as she raises her hips. I ask her, "Are you alright with this?"

She nods as she brings her mouth to my neck, leaving a moderately sized welt, grinding her as against my dick, followed by her pussy, "Munsell... I want to be yours... I want you to take me..."

I nod as I place my hands on the outside of her thighs while hers wrap around my neck, "And I want to make you mine, Nadeshiko."

I pull her down at the same time as I drive my hips into her bypassing her entrance and breaking her hymen. Nadeshiko cries out in mixed pain and pleasure as I take her maidenhood. She lifts herself and sits up, looking down at me. That's when I stop.

Those deep blue eyes. The way her hair on one side touches her shoulder and the other hangs a few inches above. Her form. This is the girl I love. It's at this moment I realize how badly I just crave to ravage her. But I don't want to be selfish. I want her to want me to ravage her. I ask Nadeshiko, my breathe catching in my throat halfway through, "N-Nadeshiko... are you fine with me... r-ravaging you?"

Shiko grabs my arms by the wrists and holds my hands in a ball in hers against her chest, telling me, "I want you... to do _whatever_ you... want to with me."

I nod and sit up myself placing my hands on her haunches, my feet planted on the ground over the bed, Nadeshiko's legs straddling my sides. I bury my face in the part of her neck not covered by her hair and lift her up, her legs wrapping and locking around my hips. I move us over to my nightstand and pick up my battery carrier before I lay her down on my bed.

Nadeshiko has her hands free by her head and I place my hands on her hips. I begin thrusting slowly and use a rapid amount of energy to give her a large load of stimulation. I feel her body tense up as I do and she stammers, eyes shut, "S-So quick... w-why...?"

I chuckle and bring my mouth next to her ear, promising her, "Because... I'm going to make you mine."

I thrust in and out of her as she grabs my wrists for some sort of anchor versus the overload of pleasure, her legs keeping locked from earlier. I drain an entire battery and press my body against hers as I smash my hips into hers, making slapping noises from the skin to skin contact. Her body is heating up from the stimulation and I keep her rooted in sanity by letting her wrap her arms around my neck as I kiss at her neck and ear.

Nadeshiko keeps releasing small spurts of love juice as I use another battery at the same time, forcing her to recover and cum several times in rapid succession. It's not until after the seventh time that I feel myself reaching my limit. I use the last of the energy in one of the batteries to charge everywhere we're making contact. Nadeshiko's breathing is already worn out but now I will be done after this.

I tell her, "G-going to... cum..."

Her legs don't let me go so I finish inside Nadeshiko and lie down on the bed with her. I'm about to use the rest of the second battery to help us recuperate, but Nadeshiko grabs my hand, "Don't. I want to stay like this..."

I nod comprehension and toss it aside. I turn my head to Nadeshiko and she seems to be at bliss. We lay there for about ten minutes before we get up. Nadeshiko goes to clean herself off and I replace the sheets with some spares before we head back to the party, Nadeshiko in a nurse outfit. We enjoy the rest of our plans with our teammates.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

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A/N: So... hoped you liked last chapter. If you want to read more lemons by me, head over to my other story, 'Amiable Times'. Music, as always. 'Three Days Grace in' general. Hope you enjoy.

So... Nadeshiko and I are a thing... we walked back in together to the afterparty arm in arm, me with the noticeable welt on my neck. Carmine was rather supportive, "My partner and my best bud... glad you guys are compatible."

Terra merely gave me a nod, wink, and a shoulder punch.

The others from RWBY and JNPR were also very positive in receiving us. Although, Ruby and I made some awkward eye contact and she shared some awkwardness with Nadeshiko, we're past it now, three weeks later.

So what's going down now?

Everyone's gathered in the auditorium, Ozpin giving a speech before we get to pick our first missions for ourselves, helping around the community of Vale and its neighboring areas.

"Today, we stand together, united. Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo, Vale: the four kingdoms of Remnant. On this day nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom. But about the very idea of individualism itself."

I look at my comrades and they're all focused on his words. He continues, "We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self expression. And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself... color."

I feel my heart well at the thought of the name given to me by my mother, "It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generations to come. And it was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity, through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it."

He explains our assignment, "As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress, on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

We're dismissed and leave to choose our missions. My team is ready with several packs for the one we've been planning to perform for the past few week leading up to today since when this event was announced. We walk up to a board labeled, "Security Detail" and I click one of the five empty slots. Not a popular job, apparently. I get a prompt to enter my team and input 'RGNT'. The selection is locked in and we each get a notification on our Scrolls, our confirmations required. We have to be at the perimeter of the northern sector wall at the Commercial District area as soon as we can be and I reason, "It'll probably be a ten minute walk after we take a bulkhead."

My team agrees and that's the course of action we take. We're in front of a security room that reads 'AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY'. The door opens after I internally contemplate if I'm allowed to open it and we're greeted by a man in a white coat and pants with a grey trim steps out. His coat is a little decorated by a few medals and he tells us, "I'm Perimeter Security Chief Madrid. It's excellent to see you kids take the initiative to arrive here early, and most of all, to take this job. Most people don't much think highly of a security job. But hey, it's this class of work that makes their lives secure. Come on, that way I can give you guys a proper brief."

He holds the door open and comes in after we follow through. He leads us down a few hallways until we reach a tower overlooking some of the protected district, but more importantly, the outside border on the opposite side. There's a good range that's half a football field in length between the wall and the tree line in the distance. Security Chief Madrid tells us, "This is the city boundary. We do patrols, overwatch, and exploration ops. Sometimes we do other things. You kids'll do some patrolling and ex ops. You'll sleep in the field tonight and patrol tomorrow. The next two days you'll do overwatch and another assignment."

We nod understanding and he sighs, "Bear with your mentor... she's a bit... easy to excite."

He pushes a button on the hologram display table in the center of the room and talks into a speaker, "Oregano. Get in here. Your newest 'responsibilities' are here."

A woman in standard Vale security armor runs in shortly thereafter. She's traded the standard helmet for a sort of headset with a sort of built in pair of visor goggles, her light green hair tied back as a short ponytail, her green eyes slightly tinted by the blue, transparent glass. She giggles with energy, reminiscent to me of Nora, "I didn't expect them this early! That means we can get ahead of schedule! Here, come with me!"

We follow by and she leads the way back out, except on the outside of the wall's perimeter. To the distance, I can see other patrols halfway between the wall and forest of Forever Fall. Oregano tells us, "It's been a while since any Huntsmen took up a clearing job of the forest, so it'd be great to use you guys for that purpose. It reduces security risks and how often Grimm attack. If only for a little bit..."

Nadeshiko chirps up, "Well, anything we can do to help."

We keep moving and eventually break into the tree line. The feeling of the forest feels different from when we were here a few weeks ago while defending Goodwitch's classes. Security, comfort, and serenity for alertness, unease, and aggression. Carmine mutters, "Bah... Never thought a walk through the woods would give me the goosebumps..."

Nadeshiko tries to ease him, "Well, we haven't run into anything yet."

Oregano draws her rifle and yells from her forward location in our formation, "Red Hood, get down!"

She dives to the side and reveals in front of her a Grimm as tall as a man, a preying mantis of a white coloration with black trim, its thorax being large and a wide hood with a blood red color being its dominant feature. It hisses and a mass of dark red flies out of its mouth towards Nadeshiko. Carmine blocks the liquid with a psychic shield, letting the spit drip to the ground, bubbling black, revealing its acidic nature.

Carmine returns fire with his assault rifle, Ivory Pike, but it does nothing. He exclaims, "Huh!? The fuck!?"

Oregano tells him as she draws a baton and begins to rush our attacker, "Its exoskeleton has very powerful ballistic properties: bullets and projectiles don't work well against them!"

It repels her by lifting its claws and spitting, spinning like a top, using its wings for extra speed and power. It stops and the area around it is being corroded away by the destructive saliva. I fire a few shots at it with Gold Omen and gain its focus. It blocks with its arms and charges my way. I yell, "Broken Pedestal!"

My teammates nod confirmation. Nadeshiko draws her smaller blade and releases a gust to freeze the mantid's legs short of me a few meters. It's ready to spit but Carmine's part of the attack begins. He makes two psychic clamps grab its arms and pull its torso down, making its projectile acid land on the ground. Terra throws all four of her daggers into its back, preventing its wings from coming out of a compartment in its thorax.

Terra and I jump above the Grimm and land on a platform made by Carmine, jumping off and trading places. I stand behind the Grimm and switch to Amber King in dispersed mode and fire at the hostile's back, driving Terra's blades even further into its back.

The insect screeches and hisses as I fire three more bursts into its back, making its agony worse the more I split open its back. Its hood is extremely crushed and it dies, falling forward into the acid pool it failed to connect with, expediating its body's fade from existence. Oregano tells us, "That was a good job. You Huntsmen-in-training are pretty in sync."

Terra recovers her daggers and asks Oregano, "Why are you part of Vale's security?"

Oregano properly holsters her rifle and collapses her baton, "I figured, as a Huntress, I should give back. Even if it meant taking up a security job. Growing up, I lived in an area where Grimm were a constant threat, more so than other places. Nothing ever happened, but it was always an uncomfortable thing that hung over us. So now I'm hear to help out with things. My peers don't like me because of how quickly I'm rising in the ranks but its whatever."

We nod understanding and she continues, "That's just how it is. I'm not much older than you guys but I can assure you, keep doing what's right and it'll pay off. We all work together, Huntsmen, security, and expedition. Brings me to my next point. I was in such a rush to begin, I forgot to ask. Who am I working with?"

Carmine reloads and holsters his weapon, "Carmine. I provide ranged support."

Shiko makes an intricate snowflake, "Nadeshiko. I bring support by building things and slowing our enemy."

Terra holds up a peace sign, "Yo, I'm Terra. I distract and disorient."

Oregano diverts her focus to me as we press on. I tell her, "I'm Munsell. RGNT's team leader. Tactician with medical capabilities."

Oregano nods, "Nice to formally meet you guys. Let's keep going."

We press on a good distance into the forest and encounter Grimm another twenty-something times. We set up camp in a clear area. Everyone gets settled in and Shiko and I have first watch. We're both seated on a rock to the side of our camp, Shiko's head leaning against my shoulder. She tells me, "My family's in town this week."

I'm surprised, "Ooo, why's that?"

She shrugs, "Guess Mom's got business in town."

I ask, "What are you going to do?"

Shiko answers plainly, "Visit them during the week. They also want to meet you."

This catches even more of my attention, "Really? How do they know about us?"

She responds, "Well, I told them like you told Sterling when we first started."

I kiss the top of Nadeshiko's head, "Alright. I'll meet them. Monday, maybe."

I stand up and patrol until our first shift is over.

Nadeshiko and I take the last two hour shift in the eight hours we have before we wake everyone up for the jobs of today. Uneventful night. We return the way we came back to the rest of the security with virtually no threats thanks to how much we cleared. When we reach the wall once again, Nadeshiko and I take the first shift on the ground and Oregano takes Terra and Carmine up onto the wall.

Most of the morning passes by uneventfully except we do stop and kill several Grimm trying to break through the perimeter. Nadeshiko notices something, "Hey, Oregano. Why are most of these Grimm... smaller?"

She responds over our Scrolls, "They're juvenile. They don't understand that they'll be cut down. But it's better that they come young and unorganized versus older and with some experience in a group."

We swap positions shortly thereafter and thinks pick up a little but it's virtually nothing. I wish something would happen... doesn't seem like it will. Just a little action... Oregano must be a mindreader because she tells us as I think of it, "Don't worry guys. Not every day is filled with something. Look at it this way, you're getting paid to do nothing."

She's got a point but... ironically, there's a loud thunderous crashing sound that comes from within the city. An eerie siren accompanied by distant screams fills me with immediate regret for my wish. We're all alert by the chaos roaring through the sky. Terra tells me over my Scroll, "Hale just texted! There's Grimm in the city! We have to help!"

Carmine yells, "We have incoming!"

Several Grimm break through the tree line and the other members of security overwatch open fire. Nadeshiko gives me a worried look and I figure she must be thinking about her family. I nod and yell, "Nadeshiko and I are going into the city! Carmine, Terra, you two stay and offer support! We'll send you backup whenever we can!"

They give me confirmation and I look back one last time before Shiko and I rush off. Oregano's barking orders at her colleagues versus an Ursa Major. Carmine and Terra are repelling Beowolves and an Alpha appears. That's the last glimpse I get.

We rescue a few people from singular Grimm as we head for 'Upper Echelon'. The area looks bad on the outside. There's several dead workers and security personnel strewn about. Nadeshiko takes point before I can conduct a plan, telling me, "I'm going to my family! I'll be back!"

I rationalize my next course of action, "I'll keep this place clear, you go!"

She continues into the hotel using her ice and wind to shred through Grimm and boost her speed and I get a look around. There're several giant Nevermore in the sky and in the distance and the sound of disarray is all around. My veins are simultaneously chilled and burning from the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I can feel myself worn out from all the running... the half a night's worth of sleep not resting my body fully from yesterday. Everything is stacking up against me. I snipe some weaker Grimm but I feel the hotel to be a bad source attraction for the Grimm.

A pack of six Beowolves and an Alpha arrives and I prepare for the fight, pissed. I hold Amber King like a club and Gold Omen emitting its energy blade in my other hand, still capable of firing like a machine gun. I swap Amber King to dispersed shot as they charge and ready myself. One dips sideways in preparation to leap at me but I shred its rear leg with Gold Omen as it dives, causing it to land in an awkward fashion in front of me. I crush its skull with Amber King's handle and use my rifle to block a second Beowulf assault and quickly switch my grip to blast its leg. As it collapses, I use gravity to help drive Gold Omen through my enemy's torso. I pump energy into the chamber as I dash towards the third. I push it back a little with Amber King and spin, slashing off its right foot, crunching its mouth with Amber King's handle and drop kick its carcass away with my left foot.

What happens next causes my momentum to fall. I hear a little girl scream and run out of a nearby security hut, fleeing from a Red Hood. This isn't right... I know the little girl... it can't... be... SHEENA!? I switch my grip on Amber King to hold both of my guns up and fire, setting Amber King to constant mode.

I obliterate the Betas with my automatic firearms while I charge her way to divert the attention of the Red Hood and Alpha. I drop Amber King and grab two batteries. I reload Gold Omen and overload it with energy, releasing fire at the Red Hood and shred through its armor. I'm too slow... to slow to stop what comes next.

Sheena screams as the Alpha rears back its arm. I can't do anything to stop it... only watch as the appendage approaches her body.

It's claws only connect with her arm as she tries to evade. Her arm glows a bright yellow and so does my left arm through my jacket sleeve. The Grimm is dazed and surprised, allowing me a chance to close in. My left arm is not cooperating so I drop Gold Omen and grab the battery with my right hand. I press the end into the Alpha's chest and boost all of the remaining energy into it, blasting a large hole through its back.

I drop the battery and push aside the corpse before I fall to my knees and fumble with my jacket to take it off. I have four pitch-black slashes across my arm and the rest of the skin tissue from the bicep to the fingertips looks like its bruised or having somehow lost circulation. I grab another battery because my Aura feels week, recovering some, but it feels like my Aura is draining slowly. My body is slightly glowing yellow except for my left arm: a bad sign.

I get up slowly and wave Sheena over as I pick up and load my empty batteries into my carrier. I pick up Amber King while walking to the center of the hotel's plaza area. I notice Sheena's carrying Gold Omen and I pat her head, "Smart... girl..."

I sit down and motion for her to sit in my lap, telling her, "You'll be... okay... sweetie..."

I wrap my jacket around her and hold Gold Omen in my right hand. Not the most defensible spot... but it gives me the most observation for threats. I don't feel it, but I notice Sheena has my arm around her, hugging it tightly. She tells me, "Your arm doesn't look good."

I nod, "Yeah... but I'll get past it."

I fire at a few Grimm that come our way, keeping us safe.

They were weaker ones... maybe their assault is dwindling?

I only have a battery left after I refill my declining Aura and the sound of heavy gunfire draws my somewhat weak attention. A hail of rounds from the ground tears some of the Nevermore from the sky. Gunships from the Atlesian fleet arrive on the scene, dropping a newer version of their drones. Some land in front of the hotel, four filing into the building, two taking position a few meters from us, another two standing next to us, keeping us protected. The gunship comes down as they provide cover, a door on the side sliding down to release personnel.

They come up to the two of us and escort us onto the ship. Someone tourniquets my left arm and they get a few more people on the ship before it finally takes off. I pull out my Scroll and call my team, "The city's... good... Atlesian forces on the scene... How are you guys?"

Carmine and Terra respond together, "Holding out!"

I send a text to some of the other teams still in town as Shiko tries to stay calm, "I found my parents except Sheena got spooked and ran away. We don't know if-"

I cut her off, "Wait a moment..."

I pass the Scroll to Sheena and tell her, "Say... 'hello'."

The seven-year-old takes it and speaks into the receiver, "Nady... I'm okay... Tell Mommy and Daddy..."

Shiko cries, "What!? Oh Dust! I'm so happy you'r-Munsell h-how did you find her!?"

I speak into the device, "Just... stumbled on her... We're on an Atlesian gunship headed for the med center... with a lot of other civilians. You guys... can find us there."

They give confirmation and I use my last battery to keep sustained. I teach Sheena how to unlock and use my Scroll and which contact is Nadeshiko's for when I'm probably going to... I don't want to think about what's going to happen to me.

Sheena holds my hand while we're escorted to the 'Emergency Treatment' area. They're working on as many people as they can. Someone comes to address my arm but they're perplexed. They tell us to "Stay here" where I'm seated before leaving to find someone more capable. I black out in my chair from the exhaustion of fighting and operating on half a night's sleep... I'm just... a little... tired...


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **Re-Assembly Required**

 **A/N:** Hey... so... we had a lemon the chapter before last... and now Munsell's missing an arm... don't worry. The lemons in 'Amiable Times' involving Munsell won't always involve... well, a replacement appendage. It just depends on what I want to do for that chapter. So... music. JubyPhonic's covers of Kikuo's work have just been passing through and through my mind over and over, so check it out.

So... without further ado... the newest chapter.

I wake up at some point later in a hospital bed. Virtually everyone I know is there: Team RWBY, Team JNPR, my brother, and surprisingly, Ozpin, Professor Chroma, and Shiko's parents accompanied by her little sister. Sheena comes and hugs my right arm while Nadeshiko hugs me around the neck.

I try to hug her back, expecting to feel the warmth of her back against my left arm but am instead am met by a strange sensation of only a portion of my arm grazing her shoulder. I look at my nub, because that's what it is: a nub.

It's wrapped in bandaging that's a little pink where my arm's been severed. I draw my crippled appendage in front of me, looking at it and squeeze Sheena's hand a little when I hear Jaune say weakly, "You'll be alright... nothing's stopped you yet."

I try to keep my anger in check and tell him, "Yeah, Jaune... I'll be fine because I haven't just received a life-altering surgery." He goes silent at that and I ask, "How... grr... how was the decision to sever my arm made, by the way?"

Ruby tells me, apology an undertone in her voice, "The doctors said that all of your skin tissue and muscles were... dead. They had no choice... but to... amputate..."

I sigh and tell her, "There's no need to be so down... Ruby. It's not like it's your fault."

Yang gives a very light chuckle, "Technically... it was..."

I take and deep breath through my nose, a little irritated and tell her team, "I'll... I'll hear it later, alright? Mister Mila, Misses Mila. It's a pleasure to meet you. I wish the circumstances were... better."

Nadeshiko's mother tells me, "Jade Mila. I'm extremely thankful for what you did to protect my daughter. She's very shy so she hasn't said a thing since we saw you two."

That throws me for a loop, "So none of you know?"

Ozpin shakes his head, "We've been hoping that you could 'fill us in' on the details of... your treatment."

I close my eyes and try to recall what happened, "I was clearing the area in front of the hotel. Was fighting a pack of Beowolves eventually. Killed some until..." I swallow deeply at remembering how Sheena's scream of sheer terror sounded, "I heard the little one scream... Killed the Red Hood chasing her and the rest of the Betas... but I couldn't stop... the Alpha."

I elaborate on my abilities, "My Semblance allows me to take and convert all kinds of energy. I can heal myself and others and give myself a boost. If I try to boost anything else, it microwaves. I can even sense how someone's body feels if I'm touching them. I don't know how, but I somehow took Sheena's wound for her. It wouldn't have hurt me this bad if I was the one the blow was coming to, but I guess this new 'ability' works in proportion to the damage being prevented. Simply put, Sheena would've lost her arm if I didn't do it."

My brother speaks his piece, "That's interesting. Munsell, I always wondered why the last name 'Mila' always sounded familiar. Do you know who Akamuro Mila is?"

I shake my head, "Besides him being Nadeshiko's father, no."

Akamuro speaks up, "Young man, I cannot express to you enough how thankful I am for your actions. I covered your surgery costs, but I still owe you. I'm the CEO of a personal defense service, 'Black Orchid', and my wife's company 'Helixcentric' is a large research and development department that rivals any company in the same field of work. I want to offer you a custom-made prosthetic with as much input as you want to place in the project."

I nod understanding and tell him, "It's an offer of incredible value, but can I make my decision later? I need... some time to think about it..."

He nods, "Of course. Maybe we'll have the opportunity to have dinner together by then; get to know our daughter's boyfriend a little more."

Her mother comes over to bring Sheena with them, leaving me two business cards: hers and Akamuro's. They exit and I address Ozpin, "Professor Ozpin, what's my situation?"

He sighs, "You're still allowed to continue attending the Academy if you feel capable of training, with or without modification."

I nod and he continues, "Munsell, just please take the proper time to consider how to proceed. you know that you have two weeks for the semester break so I don't need to hear your response until the end."

He walks out and I divert my attention to Professor Chroma, clenching my right hand at the prospect of what he has to say in relation to prosthetics, "Yes, Professor? What do I need to know?"

He tells me, "I'm coming to visit your home to discuss it. The one your brother owns."

That gets me excited and actually happy, my focus on Sterling, "Wait, we're heading to Ivokana!?"

Sterling nods, "Yes, little bro. After you get anything you need from your dorm."

I nod and tell him and Chroma, "Alright... Just wait out on the other side... I want to talk to the crew."

They leave me with my friends and I ask, "So how was losing my arm technically Ruby's fault?"

I'll spare the details. Team RWBY was doing their mission in Mountain Glenn with Professor Oobleck. It's an abandoned settlement that's infested with Grimm. There was a train tunnel connecting Vale to Mountain Glenn. The White Fang set up a train filled with bombs to destroy the tunnel as it barreled to the city, releasing Grimm with each explosion that followed the train. The final point was the sealed exit within the city.

Once the train broke through, hell was unleashed. Ruby felt it was her fault because of her 'lack of care'. I tell them, "It's... just fate. No one's at fault. I'm sorry that I got a little angry... it's... just..." I hold up my left arm, my voice threatening to crack, "It's just... that this... is the norm now..."

Yang tells me before leaving, "Stay strong, Munsell. I hope you get a badass new arm."

Blake follows suit, "Don't let it keep you down. I know it'll hurt at first, but get a good idea to keep pushing. Get over the past... and keep moving forward."

I thank her with a sincere nod and smile before team JNPR gives their wellwishes and leave me with Ruby, Weiss, and my team. I make a joking jab at Weiss, "Ice Queen... I'm honored by your remaining presence."

She jeers back, "Quiet, you, before I sever your other arm."

Everyone's dead silent but I break it when my face curls into a smile. I chuckle letting them know it's fine to laugh. Weiss tells me after we calm down, "Munsell... I thought... when we first interacted, that you would turn out to be a tool. When I heard that you were unconscious here, I thought I would lose an extremely valuable friend... because that's what you are to me, Munsell. A valuable friend. If you ever need support, I'm here for you."

Ruby has her own input, "You were one of the first people I met here. You and your entire team. But you're also a fellow leader. I can't count how many times both yours and Jaune's advice has helped me out with my team. I just want to return the favor by being a shoulder you can lean on."

I nod and my brother comes back in with a brown paper bag, "This is the stuff we're gonna need for your arm. Let's go. You're cleared to leave."

He tosses me my jacket and I struggle awkwardly to get it on my torso properly. My friends offer me help, but I shake my head, "I've got it."

He tells us, "We can go to your dorm to get your stuff. You guys can join the ride."

Everyone nods and my brother tells me, "You know the drill."

I pull out my Scroll and find a picture of my team's dorm. My brother slams his hand on the ground and an alchemy circle appears around us. He opens his left hand and makes a circling motion with his right hand over it, making a smaller circle form on his palm, "You kids ready?"

We give confirmation, everyone else excited to see what he's going to do next. He claps together his hands and we teleport in a bright flash of light into my team's dorm. They're amazed by Sterling's trick and he tells them, "You'll learn some useful stuff like that if you're lucky."

Carmine and my brother help me pack my things. I see my weapons and batteries on the cabinet next to my bed and holster Amber King to my lower back, Gold Omen to my right hip, the batteries on the left. My reflection in the standing mirror looks normal, but that's only how the left sleeve is hanging. Guess I must've been staring too long because Sterling asks, "You okay?"

I give him a nod and a wave at the air with my only hand, "Nah, yeah... I'm good, I'm fine. It's nothing."

I know he doesn't buy it but he avoids pressing, "Alright. I believe we have everything. You ready?"

I tell my team, "Peace. I'll see you guys after the break."

Nadeshiko comes up to me and we kiss. Her hands on the front of my shoulders, my right around her lower back. She tells me, "Don't get too involved with my parents. They're very... ambitious. There's usually some 'extra features' that come with any of their contracts or creations."

I nod and tussle her hair, "I'll try not to."

My squadmates and Ruby and Weiss give their goodbyes and my brother teleports us to our family home. The one with all the memories. The one that was home until it all fell apart. The one... where Mom and Dad's ashes were scattered.

Before I can even run off to my bedroom, my brother grabs my shoulder and turns me around, pulling me into a hug, "You don't need to act tough, Munse." Childhood nickname. He only ever uses it now when he wants to make me feel sentimental, "You can let it all out."

I'm confused and try to shove off his joke, "I'm not acting tough. I'm fine."

He shakes his head, "Nope. You're lying to everyone, including yourself. I know plenty of people who've lost less than you and are/where worse that you are now. You can't lie to me, little brother."

I try to struggle out of his grip but he tells me, "Remember what Dad used to say about being a Huntsman?"

I start to quiver at that. He'd come back from hunts and enter the house, setting down his axe and grab himself a cola from the fridge, "Boys, you work hard to take care of other and part of that is taking care of yourself. Don't kill yourself by NOT taking care."

My shoulders start to do that 'shrug' motion that comes with crying because of how you're breathing. I wrap my arm around my brother and start to sob badly. He asks calmly, "What's wrong?"

I cry into his shoulder, "Everything is wrong! I l-lost... an arm! To what!? A fucking Beowolf's attack! It didn't even attack ME! It was meant for Sheena! Why was she even there!? How did she get separated from her parents!? Fucking... why did I choose a job so far from the center of Vale!? If only... if only Nadeshiko came back or something! I could've chosen to take that... that... fucking junior detective job! Everything! Everything that could've gone wrong... everything that could have ended badly, did... That's what's wrong, Sterling!"

He lets me empty my soul into his shoulder (along with my tear ducts) and he lets me go when he's satisfied with the wet mark I leave on his shoulder. He gives me a pat on the back and tells me, "Don't be afraid to ask your friends for support. They'll be there for you."

I nod, "Yeah... of course... Thanks, Sterling."

I take my stuff to my room one bag at a time and organize but crank down immediately on designing a new arm. It's as much a distraction from the pain as it is my entertainment.

I'm woken up a few hours later by my brother accompanied by Professor Chroma, "Yo, bro... we have a guest... Make a coherent greeting."

I get past the initial grasp of sleep and stretch and yawn, offering my hand to Professor Chroma, "Good... whatever, sir. How are you?"

He takes my hand with his prosthetic one and tells me, "It's evening. I see you've been hard at work."

I look down at my workbench/pillow and my brother knows what I have planned with a quick glance, "So that's the internal system you want in there... One of your batteries inside to power up a palm blaster and forearm energy blade?"

I nod but wag a finger, "Not just that. The palm emitter also creates an energy shield, but I also plan on making Amon part of the hand."

I pull out the brass knuckle and both of them are amazed. Professor Chroma chuckles, "Man... you kids with your out of the box ideas and innovations. I'm a little jealous. All I got was this boring old thing..."

He reaches his left arm to his right and I hear the sound of a pump-action. His right hand bends at the wrist and reveals a gun barrel. I let out an 'ooo' at how I never knew it was a weapon and he tells us as he returns his arm to safe, "Munsell has a lot of benefit. You guys grew up with an inventor and even lived in Ixmus for a time. I came to see how you were handling it, Munsell, but it seems you're doing a good job of getting past the grief."

Not true... I'm only distracting myself from it.

He goes to leave and my brother speaks as he follows, "I'll see you out, Professor. Don't forget to change your wrapping and take your pills, Munsell."

When they leave, no one else disturbs me for the rest of the night. When I remove my jacket and struggle with removing my shirt, I look in the mirror at the remnants of my left arm after removing the wrapping. It's been severed at a little above the elbow and the skin's been cleaned. The flesh has been stitched in a way to where it's a rounded end around the bone, the black material of stitching denoting the damage that was done. I wash off my nub and the minor blood splotches along the line comes off. I apply a salve along the line and rewrap it with fresh bandaging.

I look in the mirror and feel at my arm, the feeling reduced by the combination of medicine and wrapping. I close my eyes and can still feel the muscles of my left hand contracting, just clasping and opening over and over again. I start to sob. Not because it hurts, but because I'm afraid of what happens now.

Can I really replace this?

Is it wrong? Is it right?

How will this affect my training?

Lastly, a final thought crosses my mind, me saying it out loud to further validate its importance, "What will Nadeshiko think...?"

I walk back into my room and lie there in bed, gazing out of the skylight at the shattered moon in the sky. I feel my breath catch in my throat and realize that I'm crying. I curl up under my sheets after covering myself entirely. I cry until I fall asleep...

I'm in a dark existence and I have my left arm once again. I can feel terror and dread coursing through my veins. I look around and see a gigantic Alpha Beowolf standing behind me. I turn to face it and am frozen by a scream in the distance. Sheena's amplified and resounding through the whole area, making everything shake and quiver. It raises its left arm and pins me down with its paw before raising its right. I watch, petrified as I can't move to stop it at all. It uses a single claw to slowly sever my left arm and picks it up with two claws, bringing it to its mouth and swallowing it down after dropping it in.

A black silhouette of a large Amber King presses against its chin and blasts its skull apart, the explosion splattering matter everywhere and that's when I wake up.

I'm sweating heavily and my breath is coming out in quick, short intervals. I wrap my grip around my left bicep and look around the room, making sure that I'm safe. The sun's up, so the day's already started. I sigh and calm down. This whole event's got me messed up.

I spend the next two days focused on finishing my arm's design, literally every possible moment being spent modeling it. When I finish the designs, I prepare one of my spare battery systems to give to Nadeshiko's parents. I give Akamuro a call and he picks up, "Yes, who am I speaking with?"

I reply, "It's Munsell. I finished the designs on the arm that I want to include when you make it. I'm ready to get started."

He sounds pleased and excited, "Oh, very well! Of course. We'll send someone over to pick up the resources and give you the base plate surgery."

I'm surprised, "Surgery?"

He responds, "Oh! Don't worry. It's done on the ship that they'll come in. Quick, easy, and you'll be asleep when they do it. You'll be fine. Just send my wife the blueprints so that they can begin modifying to accommodate your interests and improve on the design."

I send her the file through email and ask, "By when can I expect to have the... new arm?"

He gives me an immediate response, "Based on your prints, two days. We already had one of our newest models on standby for you. Adjusting your designs and actually incorporating what you want into its design. All we need is to acquire your battery system. They'll give you a new model basic arm immediately following the surgery today."

I'm surprised by how quickly I'll be able to have an arm once again, "Today!?"

Akamuro responds, "Are you not fine with it being today?"

I tell him, "No, no! I was just... surprised you guys would be capable of doing everything so quickly. I can't thank you enough."

He tells me, "No, I thank you. My daughter is safe and sane because of what you did. this is how I repay you."

He hangs up and my brother walks into the room, "Sorry. I was eavesdropping. Guess you'll want me to tell Oz that you'll be attending the Academy."

I nod, "Yeah... I'll be ready to go back."

A few hours later, a ship arrives in front of our home and lands on our lawn, a door opening, a ramp lowering to the ground. Two individuals in dark blue research lab coats with a helix in the shape of a circle is the emblem on their chests. I'm glad to meet them and they're the same, surprisingly. They allow me onto the ship and it looks like a scientist's dream vehicle. There're instruments everywhere, different dials and vials spread around, and several specimens hung all around on different display cases. There's a chair in the center with straps and I'm a little wary. My brother's behind me, ready for support, "What's with the chair? I thought he was going to be asleep?"

The woman nods, "Oh, yes. He'll be put to sleep in the chair."

Sterling is still not sure of the chair, "If he's going to be asleep, why the straps?"

The man responds, "It's a precaution. In case his body jolts while he's unconscious. Wouldn't want it to graze any of our instruments. First do no harm, right?"

We give confirmation and the woman makes sure the chair is wiped down, "Ready when you are, Munsell."

I nod and step up to the chair and sit down. They strap down my legs, my stomach, upper torso, head, and right arm. My left arm is the only thing free for them to have more liberality to operate. They hook me up to a drip that's slowly putting a relaxant into me, that way I'll slip into sleep and remain asleep during the procedure. The man prepares a large syringe with a blue liquid after unwrapping my arm and inserts it into my nub and I can feel the liquid coursing through my veins. It's an extreme numbing agent and my brother asks, "How're you holding up, bro?"

I give a thumbs up with my restrained arm and tell him, "I'm... feeling good... Pretty tired... right about... now, so... it's working..."

They all watch my eyes slowly lid and close before beginning any of the work.

I open my eyes once again and I'm the middle of a snowy field in a winter coat, my left arm back. I look around and in the distance, I see two figures sitting on the edge of a distant cliff several yards away, overlooking the ocean in front of them. I can only tell what they are from behind, also in weather appropriate clothes. One is a man with short black hair, the other a woman with long flowing red hair. I'm about to question what they could possibly be doing but all thoughts are shattered when I see their weapons sitting off to the side.

One's an axe that's leaning against a double-headed spear. The spear has a red banner flowing from it with a blue emblem. A double-sided spear with a spike and mirrored halberd head. I feel my voice rise up in my throat and I call out to them as I run their direction, "MOM! DAD!"

They turn their heads my direction and my heart is fixing to burst out of my chest at the sight of them. My father's scarred face (a slash across the bridge of his nose and another intersecting it along his right cheek), his red eyes passively burning into me, not to intimidate, but to empower. My mother's angelic face and mismatched green and blue eyes eliciting the warmest sensation within my chest, those eyes always wanting me to improve to satisfy her, even if she would've been fine with anything I could accomplish. She always had the most admiration for me and my brother, her eyes becoming the only thing I could forever associate as a symbol of true love.

Snow begins to fall and rapidly picks up the pace of falling until it's a thick blanket that I can't see through. My vision is blurred white but the sky above me begins to darken, making all around me slowly fade to black. It's strange, but I'm not afraid. As everything around me blots out of vision.

I wake up, unstrapped from the chair and they're all looking at me expectantly. My brother asks, "How do you feel?"

I tell him, "Fine. Nothing hurts."

The woman presents me with a sort of briefcase and I place it across my lap, the man telling me, "Please, do the honors."

I open the case up and am met by an appendage that's colored the same as my right arm. I grab it and see that my nub is now covered by several pieces of metal, fibers, and polymers that make a sort of base for the prosthetic limb. There's a slot in the center meant for a plug on the limb, and the base of both plates is covered with several small circuits. I plug the right arm into the slot and screw the arm slowly into the arm base until it's fully in.

The woman tells me, "Go ahead, just think about moving your fingers. The arm base plate is connected to your arm's nerves, so it transmits it to the prosthetic through the circuitry."

I look at my left arm and imagine feeling my hand curl and uncurl and the arm does exactly that. I'm mystified by how smooth it does the action and I laugh and so do my doctors. My brother has a light smile and says, "Well, there you go."

I laugh happily, tears streaming down my face and hug both of the surgeon's around the neck and thank them profusely. They tell me it's just their job and I tell them they must work in miracles. They take Amon and Barbados and my battery system (because they're going to use Amon with the arm and Akamuro offered to improve Barbados as well). We get off of the ship and it takes off. My brother raises a hand and tells me, "Hi five."

I smile lightly and clap my hand against his and he tells me, "Now we wait patiently for the next two days for what you've been promised."

I nod, excited, "It's... so cool! I never thought I'd be able to replace it until Shiko's dad offered. And even then... I never expected this. And it's only going to get better!"

My brother chuckles, "Yeah, you've got some good ideas going. Never thought I'd have a cyborg brother who could shoot lasers and energy shields when I was twelve, but here we are now."

I nod and chuckle, "Fascinating stuff, right?"

We both laugh at the thought and we walk through the house's front door. Sterling asks me, "So... when they were administering the surgery, you're body suddenly started to glow immensely. One of the doctors was touching you at the moment and she said that she just felt... total bliss. I went to read what was going through your mind but everything was blank. What happened?"

I chuckle lightly and look into the kitchen and imagine seeing Mom cooking a meal and Dad working on a project on the kitchen table, "I saw Mom and Dad."

That surprises Sterling and he asks, "W-Were they fine? Were they alright?"

I nod, "Yeah... they were... happy. Seeing them... made me really confident in what I'm going to do now."

He nods, glad to hear it, "Well... that's great, Munsell. I'm glad you saw them again."

I ask him, "Mom was beautiful, wasn't she?"

Sterling chuckles as he goes to take stuff out for dinner, "What are you asking me for? You saw her growing up too."

I shrug, "Well, I don't always remember her clearly. I didn't even know her for ten years."

Sterling tells me, "She was beautiful. She just did it naturally. Nothing could stop her from rocking the day."

I smile at that and head for my room, fixing to make more batteries.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

 **Recovery**

 **A/N:** Well, I honestly do hope you guys enjoy the story. I hope my ideas are nice and that I don't sound cheap or anything. I wanted to make a story with a character who was just OP outright. I hope that what I've done so far is entertaining enough and that you guys have enjoyed. Just wanted to let you guys know I appreciate it. Thanks. Music this time around, Erra's self titled EP, especially the song 'Towers'.-

-I'm sitting on the couch in the living room with my brother and Nadeshiko's family. There's a black case on the living room table in front of me. I swallow deeply at the prospect of opening it and my brother pats my back, "Come on, bro. You're keeping everyone waiting..."

I chuckle, "Sorry. I was just... thinking."

I reach forward, and undo the locking mechanisms on the case. I open it up to a sexy, solid black arm that's sleek in form (because I designed it of course!) and has gold trim in certain areas accompanied by an improved Barbados. The shoulder and rear of the forearm have built-in reinforced protection and the end of the forearm has the energy blade emitter installed into it. The palm has a circular emitter for shields and energy blasts.

The wrist is a unique socket join that is like two circles connected to each other, housing a mechanism that allows the hand to rotate in a full circle without twisting the arm. Something that I wanted so I could make the limb more flexible. Built into the back part of the hand and on the first part of the fingers leading to the first joint is Amon, cut into pieces to be able to act as plating over the fingers but capable of still packing a punch. The knuckles on the fingers have small round slits in them that are meant to release bursts of energy, the same principle applied to Barbados, according to Akamuro. He's excited, "Try them on. Please, I want to see you test them out."

I nod and reach my right hand up to my left arm's socket. I press hard on a release in the upper part of the arm and begin untwisting it and then remove it from the slot. I decide to name my new left arm Amon and twist it into place and flex the arm. I laugh at how much smoother this one is than the prosthetic one and my eyes are wide, "This is so cool! How do I... even... do any of the energy transmitting stuff!?"

I grab one of my batteries and open the port in the left forearm and stick it in, hearing a quick whir from the energy before it becomes silent. Akamuro tells me, "The arm is made of a strong reactive metal that'll let your Aura and Semblance act through it. The system recognizes certain gestures. You just program it with the buttons on the wrist when you position your hand the way you want. Here's some of the presets."

He hands me a sheet with several diagrams of hand gestures and I lead everyone outside to the backyard. That's essentially where Sterling has set up our training ground from a young age. There're targets and dummies and I look at the paper.

Palm Emitter- Open palm with curled fingers.

Energy Blade- A sideways throw of the left arm.

Energy Knuckles- Hand closed in a fist and pressing the thumb like a detonator.

Sounds simple enough. I grab Barbados and activate the knuckles in Amon, a switch present on Amon to switch between palm emitter modes. I try to send a charge through my left arm and yellow electrical bolts burst out of the knuckles at the burst of energy. I do the same with Barbados and it does the same. I focus on one of the dummies and dash up to it, delivering a quick combo string of punches.

The body recoils at the force and is left with yellow scorch marks. It feels smooth to throw punches with the left arm and I can fee the energy flowing better through Barbados than before. I decide I'm done with the knuckles and disengage my charge flowing through both fists. I see a distant target and aim my palm at it.

I miss severely. Like. Bad. Like... embarrassingly. I fire again and get at least halfway closer (I'm not disclosing actual distances because I don't want my image ruined) until two blasts later, I finally get it. I sigh at my poor attempts when I realize everyone else is holding in their laughter. I sigh and look at Nadeshiko before making a blubbering sound like what she told me about when she was young. She immediately goes quiet when her mother laughs and I chuckle, pointing at her with my right hand, "Yeah! Not so funny, heh!?"

I swap the emitter mode on Amon to shield and hold my hand in position to keep the shield up. I ask Sterling, "Can you shoot some stuff at me?"

He aims his hand at me and several alchemy circles float in the air in front of him. Sterling chuckles, "Spike Shot."

Several shards of rock fly at my energy barrier but strike it solidly, getting repelled off.

Sterling smirks, waving his hand, the circles widening in size a little, "How about... Shard Shot?"

The projectiles coming out of his alchemical circles are split into different shards and they crumble upon hitting the barrier, but in order to repel the shattered debris, the barrier waists more energy. I up the amount of charge to prevent it from breaking before Sterling chuckles before clenching his hand shut, earning a gulp from me as the circles move to Sterling's sides, "Spear Shot."

The projectiles take a slight bit longer to form but come with a reckoning at the barrier. It barely repels them and it's draining me heavily. In this kind of situation, it'd be better to just evade.

I yell, "That's a good enough test!"

He disbands the circles and I put Barbados away in my jacket and step closer to everyone, only to slip on some of the rock debris. My left hand accidentally makes the gesture to activate the palm emitter, creating a shield for an instant but it's not like a shield, more like a dispersed shot from Amber King. Nice discovery...

I get up and look at Sterling, Nadeshiko and her family. Sterling's face reads one of partial embarrassment, Shiko's is one of curiosity, her sister's is one of wonder, and her parents' read one of interest. I chuckle nervously and realize that I still have to test the energy blade.

I make the gesture to activate it and my left hand locks in a clenched position to prevent itself from contacting the energy being emitted. A jolt of pain is shot up my arm and into my shoulder and I yell, quickly disabling the energy blade by making the gesture once again. My brother and Akamuro are both concerned for me, yelling, "Munsell!"

They get closer to me and I raise up my hands in reassurance, "I'm good. Just... felt some... sudden pain..."

My brother asks, "Is this normal?"

I shake my head and Akamuro nods, "Yes... it's common for the body to reject certain aspects of the prosthetic features. There's certain ways for the body to adjust... one could just wait, occasionally practice, or... force it..."

I shake my head at the idea and tell them, "I'm fine. We'll just see about that one later... Well, I'm sure that all of this practice has you guys all hungry."

They nod and my brother leads the way to the kitchen and dining room. Nadeshiko stays behind a few paces and stands next to me. I feel my shoulder tingle at my arm moving without me trying to make it. I look at my arm and see Shiko has her fingers curled in my left hand's grip. I lightly smile at her but it hurts a little on the inside. I remember Professor Chroma mentioning how he can't feel his wife's hand with his anymore...

However, my heart skips a beat at how Shiko's looking at me before she presses her lips to my cheek. She tells me, "I'm glad you're okay."

I turn away from her and scratch my right cheek with my right index finger, "Yeah... thanks..."

She giggles and guides me along inside with everyone else. Munsell gets to making lunch. Nadeshiko and I get pulled to the living room couch by Sheena and Shiko asks, "What is it, Sis?"

Sheena surprises Shiko by actually responding, "Watch TV with Niichan and Oneechan..."

Nadeshiko stammers, "O-Ok-Okay!"

I chuckle and pat Sheena's head with my right hand as she sits next to me and giggles, "Sure thing, Little One..."

I turn on the TV and can't really find anything. I'm not familiar with cable. I don't really watch it...

Sheena grabs the remote from my hand and changes it back a few channels to a sort of police show where they're chasing a suspect. I'm surprised and whisper to Nadeshiko on my left, "Why did she pick this?"

Nadeshiko giggles, "Oh, this is her guilty pleasure! She prefers watching politics covering certain cases but this show helps her try to figure out the dynamics behind certain crimes and the sentences that'll be issued. Apparently, the two suspects involved are a human and a faunus. Watch this."

Nadeshiko asks Sheena, "What sentence will the human receive at max?"

Sheena makes a few hand gestures without looking away from the screen and Nadeshiko giggles, "She says the human will get at max thirty years. And the faunus?"

Sheena makes a few more hand gestures and Shiko giggles a little more, "Yep. Sounds about right. Same crimes but she says in that county that there's a slight prejudice, so the faunus might be looking at forty at least."

I chuckle, "So... she doesn't talk to you guys but uses-"

Nadeshiko nods, "Sign language. Yeah. That's why it's a surprise when she talks. She's only done it more whenever you are related to or are the topic."

I chuckle and nod, still confused by one thing, "What's 'Niichan'?"

Shiko giggles, "It means 'big brother'... Sheena really likes you, y'know?"

I chuckle at that and pat the top of Sheena's head. Sheena mumbles, "Right hand..."

I'm surprised by that and she adjust her body to where she's seated in my lap and grabs my left arm and wraps it around herself, whispering, "Niichan's arm... is okay..."

That tugs at my heart a little. I look down at the girl and she has my arm in a hug with hers. Nadeshiko leans against my left shoulder and kisses my cheek, whispering, "She's practically your biggest fan."

We stay on the couch like that for a bit and all fall into a nap. -

\- I wake up from it at the sound of laughter. I quickly look around and see Sheena asleep to my left on the couch and I hear my brother laughing hard, "Yeah, this was Munsell when he first attempted to make his battery system. He was covered in sooty stuff."

I hear Nadeshiko and her parents laughing as well and I quickly get up and realize that they're looking at a photo album. I rush over quickly and close the book in my brother's hands and pull it away, "You jackass! I'm naked in some of these!"

He giggles, "Yeah... well... they already know that!"

That launches an arrow through my back labeled 'SHAME' and I fall to all fours, "How... could you...?"

He chuckles, "Sorry, it just came up. I have another two binders though..."

I growl, "NO!"

Sterling laughs, "Don't worry. Lunch is ready, by the way."

Nadeshiko walks past me and tells her parents, "I'm going to wake up Sheena."

She walks over to where her little sister is while everyone takes their seats. My brother brings a cooked chicken to the table and plates with pasta Alfredo in a sauce along with some choice vegetables that compliment the pasta and chicken. Our arrangement is Sterling as the head of the table, me to his left, Nadeshiko to my left, Sheena across Sterling, Jade across Nadeshiko, and Akamuro across from me. Sterling places a loaf of bread next to the chicken and Shiko's mother asks, "How did you learn to cook like this?"

Sterling swallows his current mouthful and tells them, "Our mom and dad left behind all of their recipes in a book and I helped them cook when I was thirteen. Just kept improving since then. I like looking up other recipes and trying them out."

Akamuro asks me, "So, Munsell. What would you do if you did not choose to become a Huntsman?"

I scratch the back of my head with my left hand, wondering if a trade job would be something that he'd approve of. I tell them, "I would've gone into graphics design. Specifically weapons manufacturing if anything because getting contracts with some big names would prove useful. I'd be making money and could spend time with my family."

He nods at that and tells me, "That's exactly what I did. Until I could create Black Lotus. It's a good lifestyle. I wish you success."

I nod and Jade asks, "How many girlfriends did you have before our daughter?"

I nearly choke on some of my chicken and bread before telling them, "None! I swear!"

Sterling backs it up after chuckling, "Yep. Not a one."

Jade fawns over that fact telling us, "Well, we can guarantee you that Nadeshiko hasn't had a boyfriend before you."

Shiko blushes red to my left and I slightly feel my left shoulder move. I look down and see that she's holding my hand. Silent. Embarassed. I cheer her up by telling her parents, "Well, it's like I told Shiko. Any guy who hadn't asked her out before me was missing out. She's great."

I look at Nadeshiko and she looks back at me, smiling sweetly. I kiss her forehead and she blushes even more when Sheena says, "Oneechan is red!"

Shiko turns to her and rapidly makes several hand gestures to Sheena who signs back at her with just as much rapacity, also blushing. I'm confused and their mother tells us, "Oh, they're just arguing, both of them threatening to tell you about-"

They cut their mother off simultaneously with the same gesture, I guess meaning 'stop' and she giggles, "Alright. Fine. I won't tell him. You two are at a tie so calm down and keep eating."

I chuckle at their unique family dynamic, seeing as how the nine-year-old rarely talks and Nadeshiko wants to keep the fight fair with her sibling. They calm down and resume eating and I get up when I finish first, "Thanks, Sterling. Good as per usual. I'll be upstairs."

He asks, "But what about these guys? They're your guests."

Jade waves it away, "We actually want to talk to you a little more, Sterling."

I head up the stairs and fell a hand clasp around my right hand. I turn and see that it's Nadeshiko and give her a light smile before leading the way up to my room. When I open the door and she steps in, she's at a loss for words. She's looking everywhere, trying to take everything at once. The blueprints. The art. The sketches. The 3D printed models. She stops looking around when she sees my working duplicates of my parents' weapons, as their originals are buried with them.

Shiko walks up to them in their stands and places a hand on my mother's spear. She asks, "Whose are these?"

She touches my father's submachine gun axe as I tell her, "Those are working replicas... of my mom and dad's weapons."

Shiko's eyes widen a little and she retracts her hand and tries to stop when she realizes that it looks offensive. I tell her, "Don't worry. You can touch them."

She grabs the submachine gun axe off of its stand and asks me, "What are they called?"

I reply as I grab my mother's spear, "My dad's weapon is 'No Redemption' and my mom's is 'Two Reasons'."

She presses a button on No Redemption and the body collapses on itself as the blades fold into their slots, earning an 'EEP!' from Nadeshiko. She asks after looking down the SMG's sights, "What were their Semblances?"

I press a button on the spear that undoes parts of it, the spear splitting down the middle entirely, splitting itself into a cross shape with the blades on all four ends of the split rods, connected in the center by a circular piece. I snap the spear closed once again and mount it again on its stand as I tell her, "My dad could force damage upon himself to temporarily boost his output. Mom had an extraordinary knack for healing. My Semblance is just a combination of the two in a way."

Shiko puts my father's weapon back after pressing the button again and asks, "You miss them?"

I nod, picking up a family photo from when we were younger, "Yeah. They were incredible people. How've these past few days been treating ya?"

Shiko comes and looks at the photo and looks at it, "Pretty well. My parents have been... nicer. They were really looking forward to meeting you and delivering the arm."

We sit down on my bed, Shiko to my left and she grabs my left hand in her right and tells me, "I'm so proud of you. It takes a lot to do what you did and I can't help but feel... that it was my fault. I know I could have been a little less selfish... and you got hurt because..."

I cut her off, wrapping my arms around her, "No... no... don't think like that. You were looking after your family. I don't blame anyone. That's just how it happened. Fate."

Shiko nods and holds my left hand in hers, bringing it to her face to caress her. I almost pull back because of a jolt of pain that goes through my arm and I ask Nadeshiko, "You... don't mind the arm... do you?"

Shiko shakes her head, "No. You're still you. It's a part of you but it's not who you are. It's not what defines you. I'd like to think that you're holding up with it."

I nod and she gets up after checking her phone, "Well... it looks like we're leaving. I'll see you, Munsell."

I get up and lead her to my door where she turns around and we kiss. She reaches her arms around my neck and pulls them away, leaving a gold necklace with a plus sign as the pendant. I'm surprised, "What's this?"

Shiko tells me before she leaves down the stairs, "Yeah, it's a gift. I have the other one."

She turns around and pulls down her shirt, revealing a silver necklace with a minus sign pendant. I blush and follow her down the stairs and see her parents standing with Sheena in front of them, in front of our front door, ready to leave. Nadeshiko walks up to their side and Sterling tells them, "You guys are welcome to visit again. Just give a heads up and we'll spruce the place up for you guys."

Jade smiles, "Thank you, Sterling. I appreciate it."

I walk up to Nadeshiko's parents and give them a hug around the shoulders and shake Akamuro's left hand with mine after he offers it, "You take care of yourself, Munsell. I hope you can get over the pain."

I nod, "Thanks. I hope so too."

I kneel down and hug Sheena, "Bye, Little One."

She kisses my cheek and grabs my left pinky in hers, "Bye, Niichan."

I nod and kiss her forehead, "Bye bye. I'll see you again."

They leave and I fiddle with the pendant with both hands and tell Sterling, "I'm headed back up to my room."

Today... was good.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

 **The Last Steps Before the Fall...**

 **AN:** Happy Fourth everyone! (Uploaded on the 3rd of July) Hope you guys are having fun. These last few weeks have been rather busy but I got another chapter out at last. I hope you guys enjoy and I recommend Reon's official channel for music. I discovered the artist and her songs and covers have been stuck in my head this whole time. Well, enjoy and expect an update to 'Amiable Times' soon.-

\- It's been a few days since I got back into class with everyone from the break and I've been getting adjusted to the limb. Sometimes it sends a string of pain through my shoulder after several hours and every time that I try to use the energy blade, it hurts me. I have yet to keep it up for more than five seconds. My team and I are one of the few acting as emergency response for security. We weren't selected to represent Beacon in the Tournament, but I do hope that everyone does well. Sterling taught me how to make teleportation circles so that this time and from now on, my security jobs will go by much more smoothly.

He helped me tap into my Semblance and I can now protect another person and take their damage, excluding the left arm.

Carmine moans upon seeing team RWBY finish their fight, "Ugh... why couldn't we be picked to be down there!?"

I chuckle, "What, be the team losing to team RWBY?"

Carmine laughs, "Don't think we'd be the ones losing! No, I meant why we couldn't be picked to participate."

I nod understanding and tell him, "Well... what with me losing an arm and still trying to get used to it and the fact that Nadeshiko's father didn't want her to be involved with it..."

Carmine sighs, complaining to Terra, "Man... why do our partners have to be such losers...?"

I shrug and get up, "Well... whatever. It's not like it would've mattered if we had you there."

Carmine's tone shifts from false depression to eager challenge, "Really? What's that supposed to mean, Munsell?"

I get up and make my way for the exit to congratulate team RWBY on the fair grounds, "I mean, I can still whoop your ass, Carmine."

He laughs, "Really!? Last I recall, we're pretty even!"

I yell back, "Not according to those scoreboards you do whenever we spar!"

I knew his stupid scoreboards would come back and bite him in the ass, seeing as how I mostly win with more 'points'...-

\- We get down to the fair grounds and Terra texts Yang, 'Where you guys at?' She gets a reply that they're at a noodle place and we walk over through the course of a few minutes. We pass by team JNPR after having heard the announcements about their lateness and hurriedly wish them luck. I touch knuckles with Ruby, Carmine and Weiss (who've gotten friendly because they share similar work habits) greet each other with a curtsy and bow, Nadeshiko and Blake wave at each other, and Yang and Terra high-five. I address the victors, "Congrats, ladies. That was an awesome fight. So, who's moving on to the next round?"

Yang cracks her knuckles while Weiss curtsies. Weiss speaks up, "Myself and Yang are going to move on to the doubles round."

Shiko bows to them and says, "Congratulations. My family wanted me to give you these but I didn't get the chance to see you guys earlier."

She gives them each invitations to an event next week at the repaired 'Upper Echelon' hotel. Their reactions are very excited. Ruby exclaims, "Whoah! These tickets are cool!"

Weiss notes the circuitry on the tickets, "These are unique... are they like... coded ones or something?"

Nadeshiko stands up and nods, "Yes, they are."

Yang and Blake give her their thanks and Blake asks, "How's your sister, Nadeshiko?"

Blake adored Nadeshiko's sister, apparently, from info Shiko's told me, "My parents told me she's been having nightmares since... the Breach. They're not as bad as before... but she still has them."

Blake sighs in sympathy, "Hope she gets better."

Weiss asks me, "How're you holding up, Munsell?"

I flex the arm a little and tell her, "Better. Been really trying with this thing. It can be a pain in the ass sometimes, and it's like what Professor Chroma said. It has its ups and its downs. I'm just trying to make the most of it."

I tell them, "I just keep moving forward. I can't tell you how many more models I've been making on my computer, like different hands and stuff and different arms for if I know I'll be in certain situations for a mission or something. Just pre-planning. Hell, I'm even making one for Professor Chroma because he said his current integrated shotgun model is a little outdated!"

They laugh at that and I can tell they're happy I've been able to recover from losing my arm. We congratulate them on their victory once again before parting ways and I offer my team, "Who wants something?"

Carmine cries out, "Ooo! ME!"

I chuckle and nod, "Sure. Let's get what Carmine wants today."-

-It's day two and I wish I could be watching the doubles rounds like Carmine and Shiko in the arena but Tirian assigned me and Terra to overwatch the delivery of some Atlas tech that's going to be set up over the course of now until the next day. Guess some more military gear if anything, seeing as how much reinforcements there are from Atlas. What's going on? They prepping for a war? Terra and I watch and keep the area secure until they store them in the designated area. Terra has a tablet with her and is streaming the fights for us as we observe the shipments being delivered and set up. We're not allowed too close for the sake of their gear security but it's a two-way streak.

We're just meant to keep them in their authorized space. It's not like either of our sides will break the trust, it's just a thing that's required. We watch the doubles fights and give the occasional pointless updates to Tirian. Just more Atlesian knights and weapons. Nothing serious.

We tune in for Coco's and Yatsuhashi's fight. Sad to see them lose.

Weiss and Yang win theirs. Congrats to them.

Two of Cardin's team mates lose. My applause.

Several other various fights as well. Each just as exciting as the last. The finalist roster looks pretty incredible and we swap roles with another security team. It's at that moment that a bigger delivery arrives to the garage area we were at and it looks like a large fricking mecha. My jaw practically hits the ground and Terra pats my back, "OH! PALADINS!"

Terra's just as excited as I am to see one of them in action and I ask her, "Could you imagine operating one of those!?"

Terra nods as we head to the stadium to meet with Carmine and Nadeshiko, "Yeah, I know, right!? My dad has a contract with some of the Atlesian arms companies and they let him make simulations of their stuff, but I've never seen him get his hands on mechs like those!"

I chuckle, "You're dad's involved with Atlesian firearm contractors!?"

My partner nods, "Yep. Other ones too. Why do you think most of the games his company makes are first-person shooters?"

I laugh, "You should let him hook me up! I want to get in that field with my designing skills."

Terra giggles a little, "Maybe you can talk to him next time he visits. He always looks for new minds and ideas. He may even hire you himself!"

I nod and we meet with Terra and Carmine before getting dismissed.-

-I'm sorry if I'm leaving out any details about day one and two... it's just that what happened toward the end of day two... made the less important details... nothing really worth talking about. We're sitting in the arena with everyone else, no longer on shift, ready to watch the fight between Yang and Mercury and we're ready for it to kick off. They're on an octagonal platform that separates from a larger one and the lights shine on them and the cameras set up, creating the perfect capture environment. Professor Port begins the countdown as Yang and Mercury slowly approach each other, "3... 2... 1... FIGHT!"

Yang rears back her fist and Mercury jumps and twists in midair, their respective weapons colliding and canceling each other's attacks. They get knocked back and quickly reengage each other. Mercury tries jump-kicking, Yang evades with a flipThey both throw blocks, deflections, and punches until they both change their approach.

They knock each other back and Yang attempts to gun down Mercury, who's quick to evade. He closes the distance with a flip and Yang catches the kick on its approach. Their assault against each other becomes more aggressive, both throwing punches and kicks improved by their weapons. Yang manages to knock Mercury back and nearly rings him out with a few shots.

Mercury flies back into the ring and gives Yang no room to breathe as he applies pressure. He knocks her back with a blocked jump-kick. He begins creating projectiles in a field around himself like against Coco and Yatsuhashi and Yang tries to cut in, only to be countered and slammed down.

Mercury gets up and dusts himself off. Just a little bit too cocky, walking away. An audible explosion is heard, followed by Yang's rage. She's emblazoned with anger and immediately goes to punish Mercury, blocking his kicks before dealing unprotected body blow after body blow until she knocks him up and cuts him down at the end.

Terra lets out a big cheer of glee while me, Shiko, and Carmine cheer like the others. Carmime exclaims to Terra, "Man, that was so AWESOME!"

Terra's about to agree but Nadeshiko halfway holds up a hand, "Wait..."

That's when it happens. Yang delivers a blow to Mercury's leg and he cries out in pain. She yells at him, "That's what you get, you little-" but she's cut off by Atlas personnel surrounding her.

Tirian immediately calls me and I pick up a little apprehensive, "Yeah, what do you want us to do!?"

He tells me, You kids get down there. We can't leave this only to Atlas personnel. They don't know her like you guys."

I hang up and sprint with my team down there. We run into Yang being escorted by Atlas personnel and I hold up my temp security ID, "Hold up. Where are you taking her?"

One of the Atlas soldiers tells me, "To lockup, now move."

Carmine shakes his head, "Nuh-uh. Can't let you do that."

One of the robots addresses us as it takes aim, "You are interfering with the law."

Terra snaps back, "Vale or Atlas law? The punishment for assault are different here from Atlas!"

Shiko adds, "Besides, you're not authorized to operate for this kind of situation. She's still a student."

They're hesitant, unsure of whether they should keep trying to fight it or listen to us. I tell them, "Look, we'll take her back to her dorm and you guys can send someone to talk to her later about the consequences. In the meantime, she needs to relax after what happened..."

The robots stand down and one states, "That seems to be the most logical course of action."

The two humans stand down and the other one tells us, "Take her. Don't think we'll forget this."

Yang is allowed to come with us and we escort her to her dorm. She hugs Nadeshiko and Terra around the shoulders and tells them, nearly crying, "Thanks guys.

Yang hugs me and Carmine as well and I can sense the emotions coursing through her in relation to what happened. She feels... like she both knows and doesn't know what happened. She also doesn't want to talk about it.

Terra tries to ask her, "Hey... wh-"

I cut her off, "Yang. Take care. Don't worry about it. Get some rest. Tomorrow's a new day."

Yang enters her dorm after kissing my cheek, "Thanks... to all of you guys."

I call Professor Tirian after the door closes, "We got her back to her dorm. What now?" He tells me, "One of you stay there. Take shifts. I know you guys live just down the hall. General Ironwood will talk to her tomorrow. You hold until then."

I hang up after he does and tell my team, "I got the first two-hour shift. Carmine, then Terra, then Nadeshiko. Good night, you guys."

They nod and Shiko kisses my lips before following after them.

A few minutes later, RWB gets back. Ruby's very apprehensive, "Munsell, is she alright!? Did they do anything!? Is she even here!? What-"

I hug her and hold her head to my chest and she just lets go of herself. She cries for it all and I kiss the top of her head. I tell her, "It's alright. She's fine. Yang just really needs your support right now."

They nod and I let go of Ruby so she can be there for her sister. I hear them both cry, their partners silent, and then I hear low talking. Other people coming back to their dorms see me and I just hold up a finger for silence to my mouth so as they don't disturb the RWBY crew.

My silent vigil seems to dampen everyone's mood, me reminding them of what happened. Towards the final half hour of my shift, team RWBY opens the door up just a creek and I hear Blake whisper, "Hey... Munsell. Can you come in here?"

I don't see why not. I open the door enough to let myself in and close it behind me. I ask, "What's up? What do you need?"

Ruby tells me, "I want you to help Yang get to sleep."

Rumors of the god-level massages I give in Torn's class with my Semblance have gone around. I nod, "Yeah. Sure, I can do that."

I ask Yang, "Where would you like me to massage?"

She's lying face down on her bed and tells me, "Do whatever you want to."

I climp up her bed and straddle the sides of her lower back. I feel her tense up but soothe her body, starting at her shoulders then down to her lower back and back up to her neck, lightly singing and humming a song I plan on writing. I realize that her body is super lax and she soon begins snoring lightly.

I climb down her bed and see that I must've lulled Ruby and Weiss to sleep. Blake places a hand on my arm after I climb down and tells me, "Thanks, Munsell. You don't know how much she needed it."

I nod and leave, flicking the light switch. I leave their dorm and enter mine, seeing Carmine is ready for his shift. We change over and I see Nadeshiko on my bed wearing a kimono for sleeping and shorts. I wrap my arms around her stomach and she asks me, "How's Yang?"

I tell her, "She's alright. Helped her get to sleep. Her team's concerned but that discussion will happen tomorrow. Besides, why are you awake? You got a shift in four hours."

She faces me and kisses my cheek, "I was waiting for you. I couldn't get to sleep."

I chuckle, hugging her close and tell her, "Shouldn't get used to it. We'll be Huntsmen and we won't always be on the same mission."

She giggles and nibbles my ear, really trying to turn me on by how much she's pressing herself against me. I ask her, not against it, "You want to have sex?"

Shiko nods and bites her lower lip, telling me, "Yes... I've been wanting your touch since the party."

I look and see Terra asleep with her headphones on, playing heavy rock. Nadeshiko straddles my sides, facing me and runs my hands along her sides and opens her kimono, revealing to me no bra underneath. She moves her hands along her body, trying to hold my attention and it works. I move my hands to her breasts and massage them a little and knead them in my grip, causing her breath to catch. Shiko reaches down to me and begins taking off my jacket then undoing the straps for my armor. I set them to the side of my bed and Shiko pulls off my shirt. She kisses my bare chest and lower jawline, her chest pressed against mine.

Shiko lets her hands roam my physique before laying fully on her back to allow me to undress her. I flip our positions and take off my pants and remove her shorts and undergarments, ready to be within her once again. I run my left hand along her stomach up to the space between her breasts before moving it to her right breast and begin teasing her.

I ask, making sure that she's comfortable, "The hand doesn't pinch or anything, right?"

She shakes her head and tells me, "It's alright. It almost feels like the real-"

Shiko cuts herself off upon realizing what she's saying and I chuckle, "Don't worry. I'm alright with anything you think. Also, it lets me put out more stimulation in a concentrated area than my normal hand."

I move my left hand to her naval and release a quick burst and sense her core temperature rise, the muscles knotting up in pleasure. She holds her free hand over her mouth to try stifling the sound of her cries of pleasure. I move her hand with my right so that I can kiss her and she moans to me as she locks her legs around the backs of mine, my erect dick between her petals and she grinds against me, "Please... Munsell... I want you so much right now."

I nod as she wraps her arms around my back, pressing her chest to mine, the feeling of her nipples against my chest making me a little harder. I guide myself to her entrance and see how flustered she is. Shiko's extremely red and I tell her, "I've been... waiting to do this again too."

I insert myself within her sex and she looks at me with those dark blue eyes, a hint of green from the light pouring in through the window caught inside of her irises. She smiles at me lightly and kisses my neck. She whispers to me, "I've been thinking about how much you... please me with your Semblance and wanted to make you feel the same."

She runs a finger down my spine and kisses my neck, jawline, and cheek, telling me with a kiss between each word, "And... I... think... I... know... how..."

Shiko literally sends chills up and down my body, lightly using her Semblance to send cold energy through my muscles and body, causing my mucles to tense and relax. She touches a specific spot on my back and I clasp my eyes shut and stop moving from the stimulation. Shiko giggles, "I'm glad I... can make you feel as you do to me."

I open up my eyes and she kisses my nose and presses her hips against mine, driving me deep into her. I groan and regain my composure and place my hands on her sides, beginning to grind my hips against hers as she places her left hand on my chest, stimulating my heart rate, her right caressing my neck and cheek with the backs of her fingers. I keep up my pace and Shiko's efforts to suppress her gasps and moans turning me on as I increase the pace. I guide my right hand to her breasts and place my left on her naval once again and bury my face in the right side of her neck, kissing and nibbling lightly. Nadeshiko's eyes are closed and I can tell she's in ecstasy. She wraps her arms around my neck and presses her lips to mine as she begins bucking her hips to match my speed and drive me deeper into her body, her back arching, near silently muttering my name and telling me to keep going.

Shiko climaxes and her walls clench me tightly and she nearly makes me tip over the edge. I'm about to grab my battery case but decide that this session is fine without me extending it. I keep pumping into her until I reach the edge and cum inside of her. I relax and lay down beside Nadeshiko on my bed. She pecks my cheek and tells me, "Thanks, Munsell. It was great."

I chuckle and tell her, "Hey, I felt great too. You let me know earlier next time, that way I can plan a date and we can do something."

She nods and I kiss her forehead. We lay in bed together under the sheets for the rest of the night.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

 **The Fall**

 **A/N:** \- Hey guys! So, this one's pretty long, but I hope you guys enjoy. I'm looking forward to working on the next few chapters and I am so hyped. This is going to be a long one, but sorry. Firstly, music. Blazblue's character themes, both old and new versions, like Arakune's 'Thin Red Line' and 'Thin Red Line II' and such. Secondly, why am I bringing up Blazblue? BECAUSE 2018, BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE COMES OUT! Why is this relevant? As of right now, with this update, the trailer came out four days ago. Again, why relevant? BECAUSE AT THE END, RUBY ROSE IS A CONFIRMED CHARACTER AND IT HAS ME SO HYPED! GO LOOK UP THE TRAILER! It involves 'Persona', something I don't know called 'Under Night', but most importantly, 'RWBY'! Well, that's enough outta me, enjoy the chapter!

-I get woken up by Nadeshiko shaking my body and whisper-yelling to not disturb Terra or Carmine, "Munsell, get up! General Ironwood wants to talk with you!"

I immediately snap my eyes open and realize that I'm still naked from last night! She comes out of the closet with a decent shirt and pants and I put them on immediately, putting on shoes immediately, going commando and without socks. I get outside and Nadeshiko follows, seeing as it's during her shift of watch. He's an intimidating figure with his height alone but even his build and gaze are both powerful in their own ways. I tell him, taking a slight bow, "Good morning, sir."

He chuckles lightly, "Don't worry, Munsell. You're teammate here told me that it was you who stopped my men."

I scratch the back of my head, "Yes... sir. It just didn't feel-"

The General shakes his head and tells me, "Don't worry about it, Munsell. You did the right thing. I don't think anyone would've wanted some sort of conflict to happen."

I nod, "Yes... sir. Understood. I was just looking out for Yang."

General Ironwood diverts his attention to my left arm, "I've heard about you and your family, you should know. It's a shame about what happened to Kuroyuri and all of the other villages near it."

That sends a chill down my spine and fills me with dread. I ask him, "What... did you say?"

He repeats himself, "Kuroyuri. It was a major village in the continent of Anima. I heard that your parents' mission there had them in the area and they headed there when trouble was stirring. It was very brave of them and their actions were commendable. You're brother has grown a lot and raised you well."

I nod, a little stunned, "Huh... yeah, yeah... I like to think he did."

Ironwood tells me, "I just wanted you to know that I believe you have what it takes to be an incredible Huntsman, if not someone we can rely on in the future to help the Atlas military."

I chuckle, "Hehe, yes sir. I hope so too, sir."

His tone losses any of its friendly chatter as he refocused on business, "I would like for someone in your team to remain posted outside of this door and make sure that Yang doesn't leave. It's for her own good. I just feel like... if the wrong sort from Haven sees her, there might be trouble. I'll be back in about two hours to talk to them."

I nod, "Of course, sir. I'll tell Professor Tirian immediately."

General Ironwood nods and then heads off. Nadeshiko giggles when she realizes, "Are you commando right now?"

I chuckle, "Hehe... yeah... I didn't even wake up at all last night to get properly changed."

I tell Nadeshiko, "Hey, I'll be back. I'll get changed and then take over for you. Let the other two know we'll be doing four hour shifts when they wake up. Same order."

It's almost six in the morning and I get properly changed into my standard gear. I relieve Nadeshiko and sit on the chair set outside of the RWBY dorm for us to sit on during our shifts. She heads to our dorm after kissing me lovingly for a moment. I pull out my Scroll and do some research on Kuroyuri and the villages of the nearby areas. There's no way that my parents died defending Kuroyuri. Sterling told me that it was their vacation there. He wouldn't have lied to me about something like their deaths.-

-It's the last day of the Vytal Festival. Only slightly less people are at the stadium, as the events for today are shows that are about the Great War and the history of the kingdoms of Remnant, from reenactments to skits and scenes of meetings and moments important to the War, to cultural dances and such, all important to each culture of their respective region. I know it'll really be packed for the finals. Really something to see. I've been researching for the past hour and a half and found out so much. The town was pretty well populated but it wasn't the most advanced. Virtually no form of firearms were found there except for a few hunting rifles or shotguns that belonged to some of the dead upon investigation of what happened. Grimm attacks in that region of Anima had been on the rise, not because of a failing economy in the region, but just a series of bad events upon bad events.

It began with stray attacks from Grimm in a few villages that didn't claim many lives, but once it happened, word spread. It spread and as it did, so did the attacks. More word of attacks spread. The attacks grew in ferocity and frequency. It became a downward spiral. My parents... were listed in the obituary and their failed mission was named "The Culling" in honor of the Huntsman lost. Team CULL. My mother, father, and their two team mates.

Cassiopeia Regent. Leader, Medic.

Ulysses Regent. Assault, Tactician.

Grant Limevein. Support.

York Limevein. Support.

Their names and specialties were listed in some Huntsman tracking records. They were sent to reduce the Grimm population in the area, as they were an extremely advanced team. The situation, however, was worse than imagined. The twins were lost while they were headed to Kuroyuri. Their team... stumbled into a horde headed for the village...

Their team's dynamic was incredible... If one of them were to get injured, York could reel them back to safety with chains he could summon or Grant could teleport them... but they were both lost in quick succession. My father barely got himself and my mother out of there and to Kuroyuri. They made their... last stand... in a church.

The sound of General Ironwood's voice snaps my focus from my Scroll, "Good morning, Munsell."

I quickly turn off my Scroll's screen and rise up to see him escorted by two soldiers. I tell him, "Good morning, sir!"

He gives me a slight nod before knocking and being allowed into the RWBY dorm. I move the chair to the JNPR dorm and sit across from the door and the soldiers. I return to my search but don't really find anything new before I hear Ironwood come out.

I put my Scroll away and he tells me, "Well, you can carry on with the detail. You don't know how much trouble you and your team helped save."

I nod, "Of course, sir. Enjoy the rest of the festival."

He leaves with his men and just as I'm about to continue my research, the door opens up. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake all step out and Weiss tells me, "I'll be back to bring her some snacks. I'll get you something too if you want."

I nod as I hold my Scroll in anticipation of when they'll leave, "Bring back... some sour cream chips and a soda, any soda, any size for both."

I think I'm about to get started once again. Nope. Yang calls from the room, "Munsell, can you come in here?"

I get up and open the door, "Yeah. What's up?"

She's sitting on Blake's bed and she asks, "Did you hear any of that?"

I shake my head as I sit on Weiss's, adjusting Amber King to not disturb the made bed, "No. I sat across the hall to avoid prying. Figured if you wanted us to hear about it, you'd talk to us."

The brawler nods and looks down, "Yeah... Do you think... I attacked Mercury?"

I shake my head, offering support, "Yang... I don't think you attacked him without reason. Surely, something happened."

Yang just sighs, "That's just it... I can't prove to anyone that something did happen... they just stare at me like a I'm a monster."

I walk over and kneel in front of her, "Hey, hey. No. You're one of the best people here that I know. You're not a monster. Besides..."

I get her attention with my pause and stand up, "You know what you are. You can't let others' beliefs determine it."

Yang's quiet and nods and I ask her, "You want me to bring Terra's console? Seems boring in here alone."

She nods, "Yeah... I would like that."-

-I spend the rest of my shift playing fighting games with Yang, both of us fumbling to defeat the other due to a familiarity with the games, ending up with a pretty even ratio of victories. Weiss knocked about a quarter into our session and brought Yang noodles and brought me a family sized bag of sour cream and onion chips with a two liter thing of cola.

Carmine arrives with Nadeshiko to relieve me and Yang gets excited, the fact that she'll be able to pummel Carmine presenting itself in her mind. Nadeshiko leads me to the fair grounds, her arm around mine and I ask her, "What are we doing?"

She giggles and replies, "Actually enjoying the festival! Professor Tirian gave us permission to because of how much work we're doing!"

I chuckle as she leads me to the games area of the fair. I win Nadeshiko some yellow roses at a shooting gallery, she wins me some cotton candy at a knife throwing game, and we both enjoy each other's company, some light kisses and cuddling being shared.

A person at one of the stands catches my attention. It's a girl with black long hair that has a pink streak in it, her eyes pink with white pupils, shuffling cards. She's wearing a sort of black dress with pink accents and several pieces of black jewelry. I sit in front of her, Nadeshiko close behind and the girl says, "Ah. Yes. I've been expecting you, Munsell."

That surprises me but I shrug it off. I ask her, "What do you do?"

She tells us quietly, an echo in her voice, "I read... Fates. Destinies. Prophecies."

I nod, "Sure... so people believe them?"

She shakes her head as she splits the deck in half before shooting the cards together, "Only Fate's Chosen. Both of you will believe me. Because you have been selected. I can see it."

We're both extremely quiet and the reader laughs lightly, "Then I assume we can begin."

She lays out seven cards in a horizontal line in this order: 1-2-1-2-1. The girl in front of us flips over the first card.

The card reads 'DEATH' and has the image of a hooded figure holding two assault rifles with grenade launchers, standing atop a piled mass of soldiers and Grimm, a blood red sky with the shattered moon glowing gold in the sky behind some black clouds.

The fortune reader tells us, "You will both undergo a change. And it will be soon. This card is glaring me down harshly which means it'll come rather quickly."

The abnormal character flips the top card of the first two-group and it's labeled 'STRENGTH', an image of chain bindings on it and tells Nadeshiko, "You, Nadeshiko, will develop a large amout of strength from what's coming. You will make large decisions for yourself. It'll hurt others, but it'll be the best for you."

The cards' master flips over the second card with an image of a sideways hourglass, two mirrored realms on the top and bottom sides, on being of the past, the other of the future. She reads it out loud, "'THE HEIROPHANT'. That's interesting. Someone's watching over you, Munsell. People both good and bad. They're keeping track. They're waiting to make their move."

She grabs the next single card and reads it out to both of us, "'EMPEROR'. Someone will hold influence over both of you, and you will both react differently. One of you will submit, the other will ascend their influence."

The white-pupiled individual flips the top card out of the next two and it reads 'TEMPERANCE' with a filled syringe on a table with an Uroboros symbol printed on the surface. The shamanic girl looks to Nadeshiko, "You're going to need to practice being patient with him. He's going to do a lot of things you don't enjoy, but they're going to be necessary."

The girl flips the next card and it reads 'CHARIOT' with an image of an armored vehicle with two front machine guns and a turret with twin machine guns and a missile launcher between them. The fortuness tells me, "You're going to promote a lot of change, my friend. You will defend many others and they will see you as their salvation."

The final card has all of our attention. Shiko and I have been occupied the entire time, but now is the first time where our fortune teller has fully looked at the card before flipping it. She nods lightly at the card and picks it up before rotating it to us. We all say the card out loud at the same time, "'WORLD'."

She puts it down and tells us, "That's right. You both have potential to change it and where it's headed. That future is very fast-approaching."

She grabs several items and puts them in a bag that she hangs from her shoulders and grabs a backpack which she places on her back but carries her cards in a small box in her right hand. I ask her, "Where are you headed?"

The pale-pupiled girl tells us, "Safety. You two were the last ones I was waiting for today. Good luck, you too."

We're left confused by what we were just told and Nadeshiko grabs my left hand with her left and wraps her right arm around my bicep, leaning her head against my shoulder, "We'll make it work together."

I nod and kiss the top of her head before telling her, "C'mon. Let's go watch some of the performances."

Shiko nods and we walk like that to the stadium.-

-I'm sitting with Carmine and Terra and we're seated near one of the exits of the stadium

Penny brings out several flying blades and attempts to skewer Pyrrha as the centurion adavances. Pyrrha blocks all of Penny's blades as they attempt to buzzsaw her, being pushed back by Penny's counter-assault, refocusing her approach.

Pyrrha rushes Penny quickly while avoiding and blocking her flying blades and unleashes a quick flurry of blows to the short-haired girl's body, her floating blades doing little to block Pyrrha's strikes before being sent into the air. Pyrrha jumps up to pursue her target and Penny brings up some of her blades, effectively blocking before being sent to the ground.

Penny reprepares her blades and some begin to fire lasers at Pyrrha as others attempt slashing her. Pyrrha blocks, dodges, flips, and waits for a moment to present itself.

Pyrrha gets a good strike in, knocking Penny back several meters. The orange-haired girl recovers with a flip and uses her blades' lasers to jetpack towards Pyrrha before trying to crush Pyrrha with tremendous force, the attack knocking the red-haired girl back. Penny sends to blades the recovering Pyrrha's way, disarming her before recalling them.

Penny poises her blades above her head before sending them in to finish the fight. Pyrrha holds herself for a moment and releases a burst of energy to send them away, past Penny's body.

Penny seems to be clutching herself and then... falls... apart as if slashed by invisible blades. Terra and Carmine gasp and I mutter, "That's... what?"

I'm confused but the facts are there. I saw sparks and I know my fair share of tech. Was Penny an... android this entire time?

A vaguely familiar voice comes on the arena speakers as the screens glow red with a black queen chess piece, "This... was not a tragedy. This... was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians... but are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our academies' headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army mercilessly torn apart by another star pupil."

She begins to through out bullshit theories, "What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference. And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither. Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps, this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces."

She shrugs it off, "Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong, but I know that the existence of peace is fragile and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you, the situation there is... equally undesirable. Our kingdoms are at the brink of war, yet we, the citizens are left in the dark. So I ask you, when the first shots are fired, who do you think you can trust?"

The screens cut to static and I get a call from Professor Tirian, "Munsell... listen closely. I need you kids out of there now. The outer security is being overrun. You and all other security detail teams have to protect as many people as possible! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!"

I jump out of my seat and Terra and Carmine follow suit, my actions snapping them to focus. Some other people do the same and we make our way to the exit doors. Sirens blare in the background, like the day... they attacked the city. A recorded female voice sounds the alarm, "Alert. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat Level: Nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner."

We get out and General Ironwood comes over the arena speakers, "Ladies and gentlemen, please, there is no need for panic!"

The sound of the arena's barrier being destroyed shatters across the sky followed by several Nevermore shrieks. No time to worry about that fight. Atlas forces are already escorting civilians into escape ships.

They have the place under control. All we can do is watch.

I call Nadeshiko, "Hey! Leave Yang and come help us! Rendezvous at the-"

I hear the loud sound of laser fire and see an Atlas warship destroy two others. I go silent and hold two fingers to my forehead with my left hand and mutter a silent prayer for the lost men. I tell her, a little more calm, "Meet us at the school's bulkhead platforms. That's where reinforcements are going to land and people are going to be evacuated. Stay safe. I love you."

She replies from the other side, "You too... I love you too."

I hear General Ironwood above a level above us, "You have two choices. Defend your kingdom and your school... or save yourselves..." something I can't hear where I'm from, followed by, "Let's move out!"

I hear some of the other students chatter and I tell Carmine, "Make us a platform."

He looks up and sizes up the distance, "That's a bit dicey."

I tell him, "I'll regenerate your energy. Don't overextend yourself."

He nods and creates it, "Come on... let's go."

I yell to the other teams above us, "HEY! WE'RE COMING TOO!"

Some of them wait behind. About half of the members of NOIR, MTER, SNGE, and VIVD. I chuckle, "You guys know how to make us feel welcome."

We join teams NOIR and MTER on a ship heading for Beacon. The driver asks, "Where do you kids want to go?"

I speak up, no one objecting, "Drop us off near the bulkhead platforms. We'll make sure other reinforcements aren't hindered and that you can escort some people to safety."

Halfway through our flight, General Ironwood's ship explodes and several of us flinch or jump at the burst. Our flight resumes silently, everyone tense.-

-We land and see Nadeshiko with the remaining members of the teams that waited for us. They've kept this place clear, the fading remnants of Grimm lying around. Everyone hugs and rejoins with their teams before we start coming up with a plan. Hale tells me, "Hey, Tirian wants to talk to you."

There's someone's Scroll set up on a stand and I hear Professor Tirian's voice come from it, "Munsell. Hey..." He coughs. "I've been sending in some... D.A.D.S. to help out from... here, I get... coordinates from this Scroll's camera."

I ask him, "What do you need, Professor?"

He tells me, "I'm... trapped..."

That makes my blood run cold. His voice sounds so... tired. Like... he's wounded. He continues after coughing, "Some... White Fang... punks... tried going after some... visitors and I managed to lead them... the White Fang... not the visitors... hehe... to my class."

His... classroom!? That's on the other side of the school! Everyone's silent, "I want... you to be the... one who... inherits my... stuff. I never had... any kids or a wife... and I know my family... won't appreciate it... as much... as you... It's a personal-"

I cut him off, "NO! Professor! No! You're fine! We can get help to you! We can reach you in time. I can heal you! We can still help!"

He waits for me to finish before telling me, "My niece... said that... it was in the cards."

His... 'niece'...? The... card reader? He chuckles upon my silence, "I told her to read me a fortune... despite how against reading... for family she was. It..." he sobs a little, "it wasn't the best... but it was the best... hug I ever got... from anyone in the family. She... looked up to me... I want you... to have my home and its... personal... work... sh... op..."

He coughs violently and some of the people around me are fighting back tears. Professor Tirian continues, "You... don't know... how much I've... enjoyed this school year. I'm gonna use the last of my... D.A.D.S. now... Grimm don't know how... to knock quietly. Take care... you kids. Help each other. Protect humanity... Save the world..."

I'm about to argue back but the sight of some familiar missiles in the distance catches my eye. We all watch a slight flare of fire from across the school, accompanied by several explosions. My Scroll vibrates in my pocket and I look at the notifications it got. Two files and a picture. It's a wounded Professor Tirian. He's missing his left ear, has a few slashes across his face, his right eye with a large slash through it, his chest full of bullets. He's holding up a peace sign and... and... and he's smiling.

I try my best to contain my anger... my... sorrow... my... my... everything. My team tries to comfort me but I let out a roar of rage. I power on my left arm's energy blade and grab a battery in my right hand, boosting my energy to increase my travel speed, sprinting, each stride at least ten yards apart from how quick I'm treading, rivaling even Ruby's speed. I tear into lone Beowolves and Ursi and yell the entire time, tears streaming down my face. The yells of my team to calm down ignored as I dash across the large distance from Grimm to Grimm, using battery after battery to power my charge, using one to reload my arm's battery. The sound of Professor Torn's usually relaxed voice sounds in my ears, a stern tone to it, "Munsell. Stop. That's enough."

I can feel my adrenaline calming down, sensing it to be the work of his Semblance and he continues, "Turn off the blade. C'mon. Let's get back to everyone."

I fall to my knees and the battery runs out and he walks up to me. I hug him around the stomach and cry for the loss of one of my Professors. Cry so hard that it tears up my throat. Tears stinging my eyes. He places a hand on my back and another on the back of my head, patting it, his normal voice returning, "Let it out. I guess you've been through a lot, huh? You can tell me all about it when this is all done. For now, let's worry about keeping everyone safe."

He leads me back to everyone and my team hugs me tightly, sobbing themselves for the loss of one of our mentors. Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck are both there, sharing the news of what happened with Professor Torn. The Atlas soldiers and robotic knights seem to have everything under control and I wipe my eyes, standing straight and nodding to my team. Aurelio yells, "FIRE ON THE KNIGHTS!"

Everyone diverts their attention to the Atlesian mechs, their visors glowing red and I can only assume their loyalties have been tampered with. Everyone makes quick work of them and Carmine yells, "Well... at least things can't get worse!"

A loud shriek roars across the sky and the ground rumbles and Damask points and yells, "What's that!?"

Everyone looks to the distance and we see a large Grimm burst from a mountain, flying over the city, shrieking and roaring the entire time. It looks like a dragon and I yell at Carmine, half-laughing, "You just had to open your mouth, huh?"

We watch as it flies overhead, large, black drops pouring from its body. They land around us and leave a trail as it flies to the tower with the glowing green light. Some of our allies pick up the rifles of the destroyed Atlas droids because they lack a good ranged weapon. We keep the people and soldiers defended until a loud explosion comes from within the city. One of the soldiers yells out, "Field reports say the mechs are down!"

Everyone cheers out and we see more students coming from the school. We let them catch a break as we provide security and I notice only Weiss is here from the RWBY crew. I ask, concerned, "Weiss, where's the rest of your team?"

The heiress breathes a little from the running, "Ruby jumped out... of our ship. Yang... went to go help... Oh no..."

She becomes silent and I turn to see an approaching Blake with blood in her side, carrying an unconscious Yang... with a missing right... arm. The wound is wrapped by one of Gambol Shroud's ribbons and we sprint to Weiss's teammates. I take Yang into my arms while Weiss supports Blake to our safe zone. I pull out numbing agent and apply it to wrapping, both from inside of pouches in my jacket, some things I always carry in my gear since... the last attack on Vale. My left arm tingles where the prosthetic is connected upon unwrapping her wound and seeing the clean cut across it. This was the work of a weapon, not Grimm.

I restore as much of Yang's Aura and energy as I can with two batteries before wrapping the wound once again. I sense her heartbeat slow down a little bit, relaxing upon the numbing agent and I can feel a weight place itself in my chest. She... fights with her fists. I got lucky it was my non-dominant hand, but I don't know about her.

I turn my focus to Blake to not have to think about it. She's holding Yang's left hand in hers and has her right clenched over her side. I kneel next to her ask her, "Will you allow me to treat you?"

She nods and moves her right hand, but keeps her grip on Yang's left. I and use a battery to heal the wound as much as I can while restoring her Aura before wrapping it. I tell Blake, "Make sure her breathing doesn't suddenly pick up rapidly. If it does, call me back here."

I move on to some of the other wounded, even some of the civilians and soldiers. I manage my batteries perfectly, never allowing any to reach max charge, even removing the ones in Amber King, Gold Omen, and my arm to have all of my batteries recharging at once. I hear the dragon creature shriek from the top of the green light tower and watch as it breaks the top of it, the echo of the falling debris shaking me to my bones. I get back to everyone and notice that Weiss is gone. I yell out to them, "Where'd Weiss go!?"

Sun tells me, none of his usual cheer and spunk in his voice, "Both her and Ruby went to the tower. They said they would find Jaune and Pyrrha."

I nod and tell a tired Terra, "Maximum Overdrive."

My pink-haired partner nods and aims her four knives at me. I drain all of the energy in as many batteries as I possibly can and fuel my body to extremely high levels. My vision becomes brighter and clearer and I feel like my heart's going to explode. Then Terra fires electricity into me through her four blades, my body acting as a conduit to absorb it all while stray bolts of energy charge my batteries.

I tell Blake, "I'm going to make sure they get back safe."

Nadeshiko yells, "Munsell, wait!"

I turn to her and she wraps her arms around me, kissing my lips. I see our two pendants stick together and she whispers when we finish, "Electric."

I blush a little, turn, and run once again, zooming quickly towards their last known location, using battery after battery to preserve my speed. Halfway there, I see a bright light come from the top of the tower, accompanied by a whoosh of sound. I press on, the sense of urgency building in my chest. I get to the base of the tower and see Weiss fending off the Grimm. I yell as I draw my weapons and approach, "Where's Ruby!?"

The fencer points up at the tower and I open fire at the Grimm around her, my energy weapons cackling with my yellow energy, bolts of yellow electricity emitting from them and the projectiles they fire. The damage they leave on the enemy is immediate, large holes being left in their bodies, limbs being severed, body explosions occurring from the overload of power. I ask Yang as I point up the tower, "Get me up there?"

She nods and I see several of her glyphs appear on the side of the building. I power-jump to the first one and run through the others in rapid sequence, reaching the top in no time. Upon reaching the top, I see an unconscious Ruby laying on her front, eyes closed. Her Aura is dangerously low and I am still full of energy. I transfer a large part of it into her body and notice three things lying in front of me.

Pyrrha's headpiece, shield, and pieces of Milo... but no Pyrrha. I pick up the headpiece and put one of my battery straps through it and strap Akouo to my back. I pick up the pieces of Milo and use some more of my wrapping to tightly strap them to the length of Amber King. I pick up Ruby in my arms and make sure her arms are rested across her chest. I see the head of the dragon and it's a frozen statue. It sends a chill down my spine and I look down to see and jump off the building, yelling to Weiss below, "HEY! STOP ME!"

The mage creates a black glyph at the last moment that I land on and it stretches before it disbands and lets me drop the last few yards. Weiss asks, "Is she okay!?"

I nod, "She's out like a light... but at least she's stable."

Weiss looks at the glinting pieces of gold attached to me and Amber King and asks, "Are those... Pyrrha's...?"

I grimly nod, "I think... she's... gone."

Weiss looks away towards the bulkhead platforms and tells me, "Let's... get back."

I nod and she creates a line of three glyphs in front us. We both step on and run, the last one disappearing and a new one reappearing, acting like a sort of moving accelerant as we press on. We get back to everyone quickly and it seems that they've started loading up ships. The security perimeter begins to break down and move closer to the ships. My team and team RWBY are one of the first ones allowed on. We lay Ruby and Yang on their own seats next to each other and I sit between them both, placing my hand on their heads, monitoring their vitals. Everyone's quiet as the ships depart from our former sanctuary.

We land in a secure area of the city after a few minutes and several people are waiting for us when we land. Carmine and I carry Yang and Ruby and we're met by who I assume are their uncle and dad from what they've told me.

And the black-haired figure steps up to me, "Thanks kid... you can relax now..."

He takes Ruby from my arms and their dad takes Yang, focused on the wound. He asks, "Wha-... What happened?"

I hear Blake whisper from my right, "I-I'm sorry."

She runs down the street and disappears into the night, Sun yelling after her, "Blake, wait!"

She's already gone. I address their father, "S-Sir..."

He shakes his head, "Call me Tai."

I nod and ask him, "I healed them both and treated her arm. Can... I get your address?"

He's confused, "Huh, why?"

I tell him as I roll up my left sleeve, "Because... I don't know what happened, but I want to help them. And... I'm still dealing with this..."

Their uncle nods approval upon seeing my arm, "Thanks for what you did then, kid. They'll need as much help as they can get."

I offer my Scroll to Tai and he types in contact info on my memo page with one hand and I take it back. They leave with the girls and I see a fancy Atlas ship land in a nearby clear space of road. The doors open and a man with semi-short hair and a moustache steps out, accompanied by two guards. He yells out, "Weiss! We're here to bring you home!"

Several nearby people whisper when they realize that he's the head of the Schnee Dust Company in person. Weiss's silent to my left and I offer her a hug, seeing as how everyone she knows is gone. I kiss her cheek and she kisses mine and I tell her, "Take care. Keep in touch."

The heiress nods before moving to her father and boarding the ship. I hear a pained voice come from behind me a few yards back, "Munsell!"

I turn and see Jaune and can see the hurt in the way he's standing and approaching me. He's staggering before he drops to his knees and cries out, "Why!? WHY DID SHE...!? P-PYRRHA!"

I walk up to him and hold him tightly, letting him cry into my shoulder, his arms wrapping partially around the shield and I tell him, "I'm... so sorry. We... also lost... Professor Tirian..."

He becomes quiet, realizing that for me, Torn and Tirian were both tied for my favorite Professor and I saw them both as... father figures. Now, it's only Torn...

He wipes his eyes and tells me, "I'm sorry... about that... Munsell..."

I nod as I take her gear off of me, strapping them to the inside of her shield and hold it out to him, "Here... I think... she would've... wanted you to have these."

He nods and holds them to his chest... still on his knees, and I think to myself, 'Is... everyone losing... everything?'

I realize... that I can go home... with my phone's pictures and the ability Sterling taught me. I burn the ground with my energy weapons and create a pentagram and call out to my team, "I can take you guys... to Ixmus."

Jaune asks me, "Can I come... too? I just... need... friends right now... and I couldn't find... Ren and Nora..."

I nod, "Yeah, buddy. I'll take us all to my home."

I find a picture of my room and we teleport to my bedroom.-

-After the flash of light around us, I tell them, realizing, "You guys can borrow some of my clothes to sleep. I'll prepare the spare beds... for you guys."

I hear Sterling in the living room and he calls out to me, "Munsell!? Is that you!?"

I call back, "Yeah... I got a few friends too... Can you help me make the-"

My brother hugs me tightly and tells me, "The news was bad! What happened!? I just saw Atlas turn on Vale and- Are you alright!?"

He looks me over and I tell him, "Sterling... we have a lot to talk about tomorrow. Right now... everyone's... hurting."

Sterling nods and helps me out with setting up the beds.

He doesn't know.

He doesn't know I'm not going to forget the name 'Kuroyuri' again.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

 **No Time for Rest: Part 01**

 **A/N:** So... it took me a while to write this one, but I've been working hard at it. I hope you guys enjoy it, and look forward to the next one. I started watching 'Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon' and 'Konosuba' and feel like I might start writing some fanfics for those... so keep posted. As for music. I found Starset's 'Vessels' album and I believe that any of the songs 'Satellite', 'Die For You', and 'Monster' go well with the last scene in this chapter.-

-I wake up the following morning on a roll in my bedroom, sore as all fuck, my right hand shielding my eyes to the sun slowly creeping in. Must be at least seven in the morning.

Had a bad dream last night. I was dashing across the battlefied of last night, overcharged, and about partway through it, my left arm exploded and left me vulnerable, surrounded by Grimm. The sight of rockets coming gave me relief. That relief became terror upon realizing that I would suffer in the blast. I raised my right hand in defense and then woke up.

I get up and grab my prosthetic, putting it back on. It stings shortly for a moment and that's the fastest it's ever felt painful that quickly. Must be from how much I pushed myself.

Carmine's arms are wrapped around Terra. She must've also had a nightmare. Jaune's eyes look like he was crying all through the night and didn't sleep well. I touch a hand to his forehead to calm him a little and notice Nadeshiko isn't in the room. I get up and head over to the living room and hear my brother, "...was why I was worried. He's all I got. I can't lose him."

I hear Shiko, "I know what you mean. Last night, I heard him say something about... your parents in his sleep. It scared me..."

I stay silent. Did I dream about them too?

Sterling asks, "What... did he say?"

She's about to tell him and I call out, as if I was just coming down, "Hey... Sterling. you need help with breakfast?"

They're both quiet for a second and he responds, "No, Munsell. You guys just rest. I've got it."

Shiko comes up to me and she's wearing one of my shirts and shorts, the waiststrap drawn as tightly as possible to stay around her waist. I motion for her to follow me and I lead her to one of our guest rooms and she asks me, "What's wrong?"

I tell her, "Shiko... Sterling... lied to me about... what happened to my parents. They didn't die on vacation. It was a mission that failed."

Shiko is surprised, "W-Why would he do that?"

I shrug, "I don't know. I don't care either. So... what did I say in my sleep?"

She becomes quiet and tells me, "You were talking about... some mission."

I nod and ask her, "Did it... involve... Kuroyuri?"

She shifts a little, mulling it over, and tells me, "Yes. I think I heard you mention it."

I sigh and she asks, "What's... Kuroyuri? I-If you don't mind me asking."

I close the door silently and sit her down on the guest bed as I sit next to her, looking at the line where the ground and wall meet across from us, "It's... where they died... on that mission."

Shiko's concerned, "How do you know, Munsell?"

I respond, fiddling with my hands, "General... Ironwood told me the name of the city and how well my brother's done to raise me since their deaths. I found... some after-action reports... and even an obituary. They were... part of the dead in an attack there."

Shiko's quiet. She doesn't know what to say and I tell her, "You don't have to worry... It's just... a little bit to process. What with all that happened yesterday... on top of that news... It's all still raw."

She nods and tells me, "I'm here for you, Munsell. I know it's a lot, but you're not alone."

I kiss the top of her forehead, "Thanks. I don't know what I'd do without you."

She kisses my cheek and she asks, "So... what's the plan today?"

I ask her, "What do you mean by that?"

She shifts a little and shrugs, "Well... what about Ruby and Yang?"

I nod, "Yeah. I want to make sure they're fine. Also, gotta let your parents know that you're alright. Same for the others."

Shiko nods and grabs my left hand, "You're okay... right?"

I nod... remembering Tirian and everything that happened. I tell her, "Yeah... I'm just glad it's all over. C'mon, let's go bother Sterling until everyone else is up."-

-Everyone's gathered at the table for breakfast and everyone's quiet. The aura around Jaune is quite... heavy.

He hasn't said much of anything but I know he's hurting. He lost Pyrrha. I don't know if they made any progress together at all, I've been busy, but I know Terra tried helping it along from some of the things she's told me in the past. If not a relationship, at least an incredible friendship. Even worse so... is that he was her team leader.

It's an added load that he's holding over his head that he was responsible for her and that her death was his fault. I know I'd feel the same.

Everyone's quietly eating and I finish most of my plate quickly before grabbing our home phone and dial a number, handing the phone to Carmine. He snaps out of just chewing and staring at his plate, "Huh? Wha-?"

He takes it and I can hear the somewhat shrill voice of his mother, "YOUNG MAN! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR A CALL FROM YOU OR CARMINE!?"

Carmine fully wakes up and tells his mother as everyone's laughing (Jaune only somewhat chuckling), "Wait, wait! Mom, I'm fine! We both- no, our entire team is fine, Mom! No! I am FINE! MOM, YOU'RE EMBARASSING! Uh-huh... uh-huh... yeah-no-but...! C'mon! No! What do you mean if I 'saved any girls'!? Mom, it doesn't work like that!"

I tell Jaune, "You're going next."

The lanky blonde's about to argue but I point at his food, "Nope. No arguing it. Now eat your breakfast faster. It'll get cold."

It's a little bit of tough love but no one can afford to be weak right now. We still don't know what's going on with Beacon and Vale right now, but we need to be ready for anything.

Carmine hangs up and I point for him to give Jaune the phone, "You're an ass. You could've called my oldest sister. She wouldn't have been as annoying..."

I chuckle and we quiet down for Jaune to have an undisturbed conversation. I hear a man say 'Hello' from the other side and Jaune speaks into the receiver, "Hey, Dad. It's Jaune. I'm okay. No injuries. No hospital bed. I'm fine. N-no you don- Hey, Mom. Yes. Yes! I'm fine. I'm okay. No. No... Pyrrha's..." we shift our attention from him, "she's... she's okay. Can you put Dad back on? Thanks. Yeah, I'm staying with a friend. Yeah, it's like a secluded house. Safe. Safe enough. Ivokana. Yes. Ivokana. I know it's a little far, but I can get back. No. Don't you guys worry about it. I already have some ideas running. Alright, bye. I'll talk to you guys later."

He hangs up and hands me the phone to give to Terra. I ask him as Terra starts up her conversation with her father, "You alright, buddy?"

Jaune nods lightly, rubbing his eyes, "Yeah... just... tired. It's like... almost as if all of this is just too... much to be real. It's... hard."

I nod, "Yeah. I know. Some people lost more than others and some didn't lose anything. I know it seems unfair sometimes... but that's just how it is."

Jaune understands what I'm getting at and nods, "Yeah... thanks for the encouragement, Munsell. And thank you, Sterling, for letting us stay here while we figure things out."

My brother nods and tells him, "Hey, I would hope someone would give me a place to stay if I was in your shoes too, man. Please, make yourself at home."

He nods and Terra passes the phone to Shiko. She dials in the number and I hear her father on the other line, "Yes? Sterling? Munsell?-"

Nadeshiko speaks up before he can say anything else, "Dad, it's Nadeshiko. Yes sir. Yes sir. I'm fine. Really? She was? Tell her I'm okay. Yes. He's fine too. He teleported us out of there. Yes, he's here right now. Yes, sir."

She seems a little happier after her conversation and I take the phone back, "Hello, sir?"

Akamuro's on the other side and he asks, "Are you alright, Munsell?"

I respond, "Yeah. I'm alright. Held in there, kept my focus. Got out alright. Got several others out alright, actually."

He follows up on his first question, "Good to hear, then. How was the arm? I know that you only had it a little before everything. It didn't lock up or stop working or anything crazy?"

I shake my head and take my plate to the sink, "No. It worked better than I anticipated. I even... used the energy blade successfully."

Akamuro's quiet for a little and then asks, "And now? How's it feel?"

I flex the arm, some soreness and minor jolts of pain going through my left arm tissue, "It's sore a little. It stung pretty bad when I put it on earlier."

He asks, a little concerned, "Any numbness?"

I reassure him, "No, no! No numbness. It's fine, just sore."

He replies, "Well... that's good to hear, Munsell. I'm glad its potential is being achieved. Munsell, do you want to do some work for me?"

I'm surprised, "Work? What do you mean?"

He continues, "Look, normally, I offer work to those out of any of the academies based off of several things, but I know you'd be a valuable addition to Black Orchid. Just, please leave the room. I don't want everyone else to hear."

I'm excited by the prospect of already having something to occupy my time and dismiss myself, "Yeah. What's it involve?"

Akamuro sounds like this is something he's been building up to specifically offer to me, "Well, first, we have to send in personnel to assess the situation and help out with Vale. My wife lost a Helixcentric development station in the incident, so I want you to help out with potential gear recovery and mitigation of collateral damage to any other recoverable resources. After that, there's so much more."

I'm excited, "And my team too, right?"

He's silent for a few seconds and replies, "No, Munsell. This is only for you. I like Nadeshiko's friends, but you're the only one I really know and I also want to keep her away from this. So... what do you decide? I need to know now, because preparations are being made right now."

I mull it over. Carmine and Terra still need to go back home and take care of some things. I nod, "Yeah. I'm up for it. Tell me what's going to happen."

He tells me, "Well, as soon as Nadeshiko is back home, we can get started. For now, you enjoy her company. Keep her happy."

I nod, "Yes, sir. I'll do that."

I enter the room once again and talk with everyone and wait until I get a moment alone with Sterling.-

-It's around the afternoon. Shiko's busy talking to Terra about personal stuff and Carmine managed to persuade Jaune into sparring him. Carmine's in his office. Dad's old office. He's watching the news on the TV, using his computer at the same time. I walk in, knocking on the open door, and tell him, "I wanted to talk, Sterling."

He nods and lets me close the door, "What's up, lil' bro?"

I ask him, not ready to waste time, "What were Mom and Dad doing that got them killed?"

He's caught way off-guard and exclaims, "Wai- whoah! Munsell, what do you mean by that?"

I tell him, "I mean, how did they die?"

He tells me, "They were on vacation. The place they were-"

I cut him off, "Kuroyuri. They were visiting Kuroyuri, right?"

He's surprised, "How'd you remember the name? I thought you forgot it. Besides, why are you even bringing it up right now? I don't get it."

I tell him, "General Ironwood said something about it. I guess he assumed I knew everything about it. I looked into what happened."

My white-haired brother is quiet, "So... you know about 'The Culling'."

I nod, "Yeah. The thing is, I don't get why you lied about it for so long!"

He sighs, "Munsell... you were younger. Mom and Dad... they always knew you wanted to be a Huntsman. And I know it scared them. But they loved you. That's why they'd only tell their stories of victory. Not the ones where they lost someone. Not the ones where they couldn't make it to a settlement in time. Not the ones... where they wanted to put up the mantel. Munsell... I don't know why they were so adamant about the mission either. I tried to do as much research as I could, myself, but I couldn't find out what it was. Almost as if everything about it was on a need to know basis. Sure, the records show it was another series of missions to reduce the Grimm population in the area, but it doesn't add up when you took into account that it was only one team. I just... didn't want you to worry about it. I thought it would be fine if it was just my problem."

I feel like a snot-nosed kid now for not thinking of it that way. I mean, I would've thought my brother was a dick if he just wanted to handle it alone, but I never considered it as what my father and mother would've wanted. My brother stands up from his chair and walks over, placing his hands on my shoulders and looks me in the eyes, "Bro. I'm glad you've grown up to achieve what you wanted and what they wanted for you. A good future. You're making so much incredible progress as a young man. I know I say it all of the time, but Mom and Dad would be proud of you."-

-My brother helped me to gather everyone's stuff by means of teleportation back to the school. It was quick. In and out. After that, my brother teleported Jaune back to his family, Terra to hers, Carmine to his, and lastly, Shiko.

She gave me one last kiss before we parted ways and I waited. About three hours. That's when the call was made.

My brother picked up the phone and told me it was Akamuro and that he wanted to know if I was available the day after and the rest of the following week for a trip. I nodded, and now, I am in a ship on the way to meet Akamuro at the headquarters of Black Orchid, evidently. My leg's shaking in anticipation. I didn't get proper sleep last night because a nightmare woke me up three hours earlier than I intended. But, whatever...

The ship lands and I expect to see the surrounding area, but that's not what I'm greeted by. As soon as I step out of the ship, we're in a hangar that's completely sealed off. Akamuro's waiting for me outside of the ship and he greets me with a handshake, "Hello, Munsell. Sorry if you weren't expecting the secrecy, but it's a security measure. Only authorized personel know the location of this place."

I nod, "Of course... so, what did you need?"

He replies, "Well... I wanted you to meet the new people you'll be working with in the future."

I nod, "Alright. Where are they at?"

He gestures as he begins walking away, "This way. Follow."

I do as he says and follow him through several hallways until we reach a room that he opens with a keycard. Inside are three other individuals in different apparel with weapons lying aside on a table. There's two girls and a guy.

The guy is a tower, like Yatsuhashi. He has a massive spike Mohawk that's green and he tells me as he stretches his hand out to me, "Godwell Blackhand." His irises are a solid bronze. He's wearing a dark brown leather jacket with three spike studs in the shoulders and metal braces built into the arms. His hands have fingerless gloves and studs all over the back.

I take it and he has a firm grip and I turn to one of the girls. She looks like she's wearing sleek sunglasses and I can't see her eyes at all through them. She has long blue hair with bangs covering a lot of the front of her face. She's wearing a sort of athletic combat suit similar to Velvet's except this girl's suit is predominantly black with blue highlights. She offers me her hand and I take it as she tells me, "I'm Nebula Boone. That's Esper."

She points her thumb at the other girl with wild short hair like Nora's except with more 'spikes' that naturally come together. She has a long braided ponytail of white hair that starts at the lower back of her head and goes all the way down to the back of her thighs. She's wearing white combat armor with black chainmail sleeves, connected to white-plated black gloves. Her lower body armor is of similar style to mine but she has a sort of waist cape extending over her right thigh. Her eyes are a piercing amber. I take her right hand with mine and I can't sense any of her body through it and I realize, "Is that a prosthetic?"

Esper nods and Akamuro tells me, "Yes. They all have prosthetics. Like you."

I'm surprised, "What? Where?"

Esper turns her back to me as she undoes her chainmail sleeve while Godwell rolls up his pants' legs and Nebula presses her finger to the side of her head. Nebula reveals eyes that are mechanical, as close to real as possible but I can see the tech. She pulls away her hair and reveals that the glasses, as I thought they were, don't have any sort of arms that would hold onto the backs of her ears, rather, they're built into the area around her eyes.

Godwell shows his legs are prosthetic, the shoes he's wearing actually being a part of them, not just a cool look. Lastly, I see Esper's back and I'm silent. Her spine has a sort of mechanical reinforcing all along it but between her shoulders is a circle. It holds three spheres in it and the spine has several joints and they make clicking sounds, separating from her armor. She tells me, "I have a reinforced spine. This armor is the only piece of armor that'll fit me. Anything else... gets in the way."

She shows me that her arm is mechanical and reseals her armor. It clicks back together again and she faces me once more while the other two conceal their features. I'm surprised, "Why... What... What is this?"

Akamuro tells me, "Your new team. I'll leave you to get acquainted."

He exits the room and the first one to speak to me is Godwell, "Yeah... so he kind of is the reason why I can walk. I got into an accident and my dad is one of the sector chiefs... and he wanted to know if there was a way for me to walk again. I owe Akamuro."

Nebula tells me, "I was born blind. My mother was a doctor and knew a friend who could make arrangements for me to receive the surgery to replace my eyes. Being from Haven, it was going to be hard to move on past school and after what happened in Vale... I knew it was only going to get worse."

I nod and ask Esper, "And you?"

The white-haired girl tells me, "Grimm wiped out where I lived... and when me and some of my friends tried... to get away... We took a bad route. We had to jump down from somewhere high up. I slipped and hit my back on the landing. I was unconscious. A few hours later, I wake up in an escape ship full of Black Orchid specialists. I was found a few moments after the Grimm found me... I've been living on the compound for the past several years."

I literally could've never guessed what caused them to undergo the same kind of treatment as me. Godwell asks, "So. How'd you lose your arm?"

I roll up my left sleeve and show them my arm and tell them, "I took someone's wound. Akamuro offered me the surgery."

Godwell grabs his weapon from nearby and it appears to be a greatsword. He pulls a trigger on it and part of the blade opens up, revealing tiny energy emitters. He presses a button on the handle with his thumb and the emitters create green energy. Godwell tells me, "It can send energy slashes a distance away from me and I can use my semblance to double a projectile for two seconds, so it can be real useful to make a flurry in a pinch."

Nebula tells me as she grabs her rocket launcher, "I can create energy bursts to boost everyone."

Esper tells me as she attaches a sword sheathe to her hip, "I create sound disruptions. Screams, whispering. Even sound cancelling. I can create bursts that damade internal organs if I concentrate."

The three spheres in Esper's back fly out of her back's module and she tells me, "These three... are Alpha, Beta, and Delta. They can each project holograms, fire lasers, and boost energy, except each one has a better proficiency at a certain task."

I nod understanding and ask, "So... should we get to what he wants us to do this week?"

They nod and we turn to face the door and it opens. Akamuro's waiting on the other side and tells us, "I'm going to show you kids the gear allotted to you for this mission. Along with some special equipment."

We follow him to another room and it looks like a sort of armory. There's one man behind the counter and he's wearing a black set of armor with a purple orchid emblem on the left shoulder plate. He pulls out four sets of armor, each wrapped with a label for each of us, respectively. He gives us each two cylindrical objects and says, "These are energy boosting field emitters. They boost all humans in their field of influence, so you won't need to worry about any hostile individuals like Grimm getting in the way. Use them when you need to regroup mid-combat. Just keep them protected. Also, once used, don't leave behind the shells. We don't want anyone to get their hands on our tech."

He pulls out a few small packages and says, "These are meal reserve packages. They will give you all of the nutrients you need each day. They may taste bad, but they get the job done."

He pulls out four backpacks and empty duffel bags and tells us, "These are for each of you to carry your supplies and the duffel bags are for you to use to recover any equipment you find."

He pulls out four beacons, "Arm these three black ones to call in bombing runs on where they land. We have ships waiting at all times to quickly fly overhead and drop off ordnance near your area of operation. They will arrive in ten seconds. The purple beacon will be the one you use to call in your escape ship."

We nod and I ask Akamuro, "When do we start?"

He chuckles, "Immediately."

I nod and tell him, "This looks like it'll do."-

-We're in the ship ready to be deployed, flying over the center of the Forever Fall forests because the threat of airborne Grimm attacking the ship is too high. I'm wearing a pure black jacket, similar to my regular one without the left sleeve to not interfere with the left arm, having a shoulder pad that covers and wraps around the skin of my arm. Gods, even the armor pads and metal plating I'm wearing are styled after my original one, except these ones are black. My chest has the same purple orchid emblem that is this company's motif. I look at my new team. RGEN. 'Regen'. I never pictured this for my future at all. We're each wearing black masks of sorts to conceal our faces. Mine's a full-black carbon fiber mask with purple visored eye slits.

Godwell has a helmet with his Mohawk's gel washed out so that he could get it on. It has a full face visor that's purple. He's wearing heavy polymer armor over his legs and torso, but his arms only have forearm protection to allow him to move his arms quickly for his weapon's attacks. His leg padding has the purple orchid on both sides.

Nebula's combat suit has purple highlights instead of blue and the emblem is on her back and she has a face mask that clicks together with slots for her eyes. It doesn't obstruct any of her hair.

Esper's armor is virtually identical to her normal one except completely black. The back part of her armor that connects to her spine is purple, the metal guards on the backs of her gloves are purple, and her waist cape has the purple emblem. She has a mask that covers her eyes and part of her forehead but not her mouth or nose. It has a unique antenna that boosts the range she can operate her three secondary weapons.

Each of their weapons have energy batteries and each of them have battery carriers like me.

Apparently they each have regenerating batteries, so that gets rid of the worry of ammo... guess the company managed to figure out the technology too...

Esper's seated next to me and when her shoulder bumps into me when we stop flying, I sense that she feels a little bit... of despair. I ask her, "What's wrong?"

She replies, "This is my first time fighting a Grimm..."

I nod understanding and the pilot yells to us through the ship's speakers, "This is your stop! Good luck, you guys!"

We jump out of the open ship's platform and each have our own different landing strategies. Godwell just falls with his blade to impale a tree and jumps down from one branch to another. Nebula uses her energy rocket launcher to counteract her speed and lands safely. Esper uses two of her orbs to place her feet and they each have little rocket boosters that help her float down. I use my left arm and Amber King, both charged up in dispersed mode and use the boosted energy to keep me from hitting the ground hard. The moment we hit the ground, I practically feel the danger watching us.

Esper tells us, "I've trained the whole time these last few years to kill Grimm... but I have yet to see them again and actually fight one..."

The other two get a little uncomfortable at that and I tell them, "She's not a liability. I know she's just doubting herself, but she won't fail us."

I tell them, "We're going to get this job done. It's just going to take a little bit. Don't think we're going to need the whole week, but..."

They understand what I'm getting at and we progress forward, half-jogging, half-running. No Grimm show up until we reach the clearing between the forest and the city wall. There's a hole in it for us to quickly get through but it's not going to be quick. There's like... fifty Beowolves. Twenty Ursi. Five Alphas of each one. There're three Red Hoods and a Deathstalker. I holster Amber King to my back and draw Gold Omen and turn on its energy blade as I trigger my Amon's energy blade. I yell, "CHARGE!"

I dash forward and kill two Ursi in rapid sequence after each other and rush through three Beowolves. Godwell takes another direction and spins once, cutting through several Grimm at once and then spins again, sending an energy wave, followed by a duplicate to chop through several of them in front of him. Nebula laughs as she propels herself into the air with a jump and aims her launcher down at one of the Red Hoods. She fires and kills an Ursi and two Beowolves next to it and I watch as she smashes the head of a Beowolf Alpha by bringing the weapon down on its head. She changes the handles of her launcher with a button press and adjusts her grip to where the weapon's over her back and she leans over. She pulls the trigger once again and the projectile isn't launched out of the front of the tube. The front has a seal over it and is forcing all of the energy to come out of the backblast tube, causing her to fly with the launcher as a rocket herself.

She pummels through several Grimm and I turn back to Esper, some Grimm attracted by her insecurity. I'm about to go back to defend her but Godwell yells, "KILL THEM, DUMBASS!"

Esper snaps out of it and I watch something in her change. She yells as she draws her blade and all three of her orbs fly out. She creates illusions of herself in front of her enemies that catch their attention but get destroyed. That doesn't matter. The first three Beowolves take each orb to their skulls, dying from the blunt force. The Ursa Alpha behind them goes to slam her with its right arm but the orbs fire yellow lasers to sever the limb. It swings with its left but the orbs block the blow with their bodies, leaving its chest open for her blade.

They re-enter her back and one ejects above her head, Esper grabbing it to land between several Grimm. She spins quickly, boosted by the two in her back, and attaches the sphere in her hand to the base of her blade and lets go of the blade, the sphere spinning in a circle as it revolves around her, chopping down even more.

I grin behind my mask and boost myself with my left arm's battery and charge through several more Grimm myself before taking down an Alpha Beowolf and Ursa. I deactivate my energy blade in time to switch to my shield emitter mode and catch a Red Hood's spit and release the field, dispersing it over a crowd of the Grimm before me. I reload my arm and Gold Omen after disengaging its blade and switch to Amber King. Several Grimm approach and I bludgeon them aside with the length of Amber King and stop an Alpha Beowolf's paw with my left arm. I grit my teeth and look into its eyes. It snarls at me and swings with its left arm instead. I fire a dispersed blast into it and destroy the limb and fire a beam with my left hand into its other arm, ridding it of that appendage as well. I jump into the air to avoid a Beta Beowolf and roundhouse the Alpha away before destroying the Beta with twin dispersed shots.

It's the most fun I've ever had in a long time, watching as Nebula flies around like a demented arrow, Godwell wipes down group after group with swings of his blade, and as Esper rampages with the help of Black Heart (her sword) and No Regrets (her three-sphere system). We regroup and see that there's a crowd waiting for us in the wall's gap. Godwell makes a 'Tch' sound with his mouth and complains, "Now I can see why we have a week. This shit's going to slow us down and it's going to stack up. All of these fights between us and our objective."

I tell him, "Just tear them down. I'll replenish your energy."

He nods, "Sure" and begins launching wave after wave of sword slashes and I keep him topped up, swapping out my batteries to maximize their charging by having them all recharging at the same time. I recommend the same to the other two and they help in their own ways. Nebula fires energy blast after energy blast while Esper fires lasers with No Regrets. Everyone reloads their batteries and we push on through.-

-End of Part 01


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

 **No Time for Rest: Part 02**

A/N: Hello, everyone. Update: Changed Esper's Semblance because her orbs already make holograms... My drowsiness made me make a few mistakes in Chapter 18 so... Fixed those. Music recommendation: Metallica's 'Wired for Destruction' album. Now, we resume with a new chapter.

-We're past the wall and the area is silent. In the distance, we see other Grimm, but they don't advance. I direct us through an alleyway and the sight before us is brutal.

There's a load of dead bodies strewn about in the space and Nebula mutters lightly, "Shit... they must've gotten trapped. I know that Grimm don't _need_ to eat... but this is... Shit."

I nod and push through the alleyway, the adjacent sides leading to Grimm, so being in a tighter space with less room for Grimm to fit was better than facing many in the open. The feeling of walking on the dead sends an uncomfortable feeling through my legs but we press on.

Nebula announces, "I see trouble up ahead."

Godwell asks, "What exactly?"

She announces blankly, "Arachni. Two of them."

I'm quiet, "So... they're coming this way..."

She nods and I grit my teeth. This is literally worse than facing a crowd of Grimm on both sides. I ask Esper, "How far can you send your holograms?"

She responds, "About... a hundred meters for each sphere but two of the three only create still images. One is specialized to make a moving hologram that can traverse terrain."

I nod, "Esper, you're going to make a hologram that will catch their attention while Nebula, you help her guide it."

Esper nods and creates a hologram of herself in the alley with us and sends it running outside, away from our location. Nebula tells her adjustments for her sphere and I lead us out, running. We turn left and no Grimm are here to stop or interfere, all attention caught by the hologram.

After a few moments of running, we've created a comfortable distance and Esper's sphere returns to her back. We get to an open and empty space after a bit more and I realize that we're in the 'Upper Echelon' hotel's courtyard. It's still as destroyed as before... so I guess that means that the reopening ceremony won't be held afterall.

I tell my allies, "This'll be a good place to rest. Maybe get a good vantage of what lies ahead."

They nod and we proceed along slowly. We climb about... fifteen flights of stairs until we decide to stop.

We go to a room closer to the direction we're headed and bust the door down. We sit around the former luxury sweet and I hear Nebula, "Damn! This is some high-quality coffee! I wish we could have some!"

I chuckle and pull out a device to allow me to convert energy in my battery to different devices. I tell her, "Just use one of those water bottles."

She takes the device and undoes her mask and sets it aside and she takes off her armor before serving herself a mug, "This seems like a good place for today, right?"

Godwell nods, looking out at the black sky ahead of us, the moon being the only light pouring in through the wide windows, "Yeah. We can each sleep and just set up sleep shifts."

I begin taking off my armor, "Alright. Nebula, Blackwell, Esper, then myself. Let's get to sleeping, so we can be ready tomorrow."

I make my way to one of the couches and tell Nebula and Esper, "You guys can take the bed and the other couch."

Esper walks over to the other couch while Nebula heads to the bed. I put down my gear at the end of the couch and lie down. Esper presses a part at the top of her spine and it begins to unfold and separate itself from her armor.

She slips off the armor, revealing herself to be wearing a suit like Nebula's underneath, only thinner and without extra armor padding. Her right arm isn't as intricately crafted as mine, making me believe that hers isn't a weapon like mine.

I remove my armor and boots and place my head on one of the armrests and fall asleep to the sound of the coffee maker working to make more coffee.-

-I wake up a few hours later because of a pain in my left arm and get up. Thirty minutes until my shift. I get my gear and get changed and walk over to the hallway. Esper's posted outside practicing with her sword slowly. She's wearing some earphones and when I come out, her blade comes short of my neck. She exclaims, "Oh! Sorry, Munsell! I didn't know you were out here!"

She sheathes her blade and I chuckle behind my mask, "Yeah... sorry. Though you did have earphones, so I don't think announcing my presence woulda helped."

We both sit down and she asks me, "So... what's the plan for tomorrow?"

I chuckle, checking my batteries, "Um... kinda winging it. We'll drop from the floor we're at and then keep moving. Nothing else much we can do. Keep moving from there."

She nods and I ask her, "So... you said you've been living in that Black Lotus compound your whole life. How's the real world treating ya?"

She chuckles, "Honestly... pretty bad introduction."

I shrug and take off my mask, "Yeah... sorry you got roped into this deal if it's not what you expected..."

She giggles a little and removes her mask, showing her eyes, "I never said that it wasn't what I wanted! We were waiting for someone like you to show up so we could do something. Most everyone else I know does normal security for Helixcentric or other less-than-reputable companies."

I'm confused, "Wait... 'less-than-reputable'? What do you mean by that?"

She's surprised, "Whoah, wait, you mean you never looked into 'Helixcentric'?"

I shake my head and she lets out an exasperated breath, "Sure, they make high-quality tech and gear... but they're... not that known for stealing tech."

I exclaim, "Stealing tech!?"

She nods, "Yeah! Well... no. Not technically. They take ideas... and improve on them and outsell the competition. As for... weapons and other... not exactly legal market... they do the same."

I'm truly surprised, "Whoah. Never knew that. And prosthetics?"

Esper tells me, "No. That's actually where they have to get original. They have liscenses, yeah, but they're not exactly the most... safe bet... to go with."

I raise a brow, "Hmm? Why?"

She responds, "Their prosthetics aren't... fully tested first. They use data recovered from the receptors in them to improve their designs. We're essentially... testing their product for them."

I ask her, truly surprised, "How do you... know this stuff?"

She tells me as she checks her Scroll for time, "I may or may not have been assigned several delicate intel disposing jobs as a child... Reading's easy... especially when shredding those documents."

I sigh, "Wait... as a child?"

She nods, "Yep. Simple job, easy pay."

I chuckle, "Well... I am truly astounded by your story, Esper."

She gets up, "Yeah, well... welcome to the club, Munsell. The others know, too... but we can't say anything. All part of the working contract."

She heads for the door and tells me, "Well... let me get out of your hair, Munsell, and into sleep."

I nod and get up as well, "Yeah. Sleep well."

She walks through the room's front door and I put on my mask, ready to stand watch.-

-We're all standing behind the large window of the room looking out to the city and I ask, "So... we all ready to jump?"

Godwell nods, "Legs have survived higher jumps than this."

Esper nods, "I use No Regrets easily."

Nebula prepares her launcher, "Love base jumping."

I ready my arm and Amber King, "Ready to go."

Nebula breaks through the window riding her rocket launcher and yells, "Last one down's a Nevermore egg!"

Godwell jumps, planting his legs on the ceiling before launching himself to the ground stories below. Esper uses No Regrets on the bottom of her feet, two spheres under her feet, one in her back, each one cycling out with the one in her back, each one charging before placing itself under her feet. She descends but not as rapidly as I do when I drop.

I jump down and shape myself like a dart, dropping swiftly and watch as Godwell drops on an Ursa Major before spinning and slashing all surrounding Grimm. Esper, however, drops chaos from above. She fires energy projectiles that explode upon impact against our enemies before she reloads mid-air and fires herself down towards a King Taijitu, taking out both heads in one shot, using herself as a missile with the end of her weapon.

She drops down from her flight, killing an Ursa before she begins using her launcher as a bludgeon on the enemies near her without using energy in the battery.

I squash a Beowulf Alpha with the dispersed blasts from my arm and rifle and take aim at others with beams from both.

As Esper descends, her spheres fire lasers at targets before she reaches the ground. When she touches down, all of her spheres fire lasers as she shreds Grimm personally with her blade.

Nebula shouts for Esper to hear, "Nevermore egg!"

Esper yells back, "Whatever!"

Godwell just laughs, "I love you idiots!"

I yell, "Wringer!"

A Wringer is like... a bat... in shape... kinda... On steroids. It has long skinny arms and legs but no wings and the end of its arms are like two clawed digits that wrap around something easily and has a long skinny tail with the same two digits. Its most common methods of killing are suffocation and removal of limbs.

Godwell chuckles, "I've got this!"

He goes to slash the creature in half vertically but he's two slow. The Grimm's tail dashes quickly to his legs and pulls them out from under him before grabbing his right hand by the wrist tightly, and pulls away from him, dragging its grip.

I hear several small popping sounds and I realize its tight grip just broke several of his fingers as it forced him to let go of his blade. It quickly follows up by wrapping its tail around his neck and keeping him suspended in front of itself, using him as a partial shield to disuade us from attacking.

I kill several more Grimm nearby me and yell, holstering Amber King, "Keep me covered!"

My other two teammates get the message and I focus on Godwell. I concentrate on his purpling face and then... feel myself suffocating. My eyes bulging. The feeling of blood trapped, trying to flee my head to get oxygen.

My lungs are barely expanding and I feel my throat burning as if a rope was tied around it but I take relief in hearing Godwell take a deep breath. We're both glowing yellow with my aura. He twists his body just right and I see a gust of air release from his leg and he kicks the side of the creature's head, sending chunks flying.

I finally get to breathe and I take a deep one before yelling at him through watery eyes, "Get over here!"

He picks up his weapon and runs over to me and I place my hands on our throats, healing us both up. I heal his hand and he opens and closes it, the hand back to normal. I pat his shoulder and tell him, "You're good to go."

He nods and punches my shoulder lightly, "Thanks, man."

He turns around and picks up the slack and I draw Gold Omen, spraying down several Grimm myself. We clear the area of enemies and I lead the way for us to press forward, letting my batteries charge, a fully-energized shot within Amber King sitting in my hands.-

-After a while, I see a sign that reads, 'Tucson's Book Store' and figure, nice little place to take a break. Probably was barren before all of this, so relatively safe.

The door's locked tight with a red 'CLOSED' sign on it with metal slides pulled down over it and the windows. Nebula lets out a 'Hmph' and walks up to it, "Allow me."

She goes down to the bottom of the slide and pulls out a small metalic rod and hook. She chuckles, "Too easy" and then attempts raising the slide.

Not only does she fail, but it makes a rustic creak that earns the roar of some nearby Grimm. Godwell shakes his head and raises the metallic blinds himself, yelling, "Get the door open!"

Nebula nods and works on the lock quickly, pushing it open and running in. We each run in and Godwell slams the blinds shut, Nebula quickly working to lock it in the dark, her eyes glowing green.

She exclaims, "Got it!" and no sooner than that, we hear slamming against the protective metal. We back away from the door in the pitch dark and wait for the snarling outside to die down.

I pull out a battery, its ambient glow being enough to light the area inside. The place is pretty empty except for the books. I grab a few dusty paperbacks and place them in a pile on the ground and blast it with Amber King.

It easily catches some sparkage and burns into a fire. I tell the team, "Well... I suppose it's a good time to lunch. And these are better with fire, according to Godwell."

He nods, "Yup. Truth."

We settle down after removing our gear and masks, pulling the packs out and tear open the bags, unveiling several smaller pouches in each one. Two meals, three sides, a fruity drink pack, matches, a heating pad, and a sweet drink pad. No deserts.

Godwell chuckles, "Hell yeah! Ravioli and Brisket meals!"

Nebula shrugs, "Chicken Noodle and Barbecue Patty... Not bad..."

Esper, "Oh! Chicken Mac and Taco Stew!"

I shake my head a little and chuckle, pulling out my stuff, "Umm... Cheese Potatoes and Beef and Potatoes... Why do so many of them have beef and potatoes?"

Godwell shrugs, "Guess it has to do with their preservation or something. They're pretty good though. Especially since we have a fire. They heat up with fire better than the heating pad. Plus, we don't need to use water like on the heating pad!"

We take our time with our lunch and eventually get our gear back on and I ask Nebula, "What's it look like outside?"

She responds, "Few out in front. The backway through the side-alley's clear, though, so that'd be a better route."

I nod and she lets out a yelp of pain. Esper asks, concerned, "What's wrong?"

Nebula responds, removing her mask, "I can't... see..."

I ask her, "Is it something I can heal?"

She shakes her head, "No... It's something with the circuitry. It rarely happens, but when it does, I can't see for like... an hour or two."

Godwell sighs, "Ugh... thanks Nebula... Just when I thought I'd get to kill more Grimm..."

She nips back, noting his sarcasm, "Godwell... I hope that I can leave your paraplegic as paralyzed to get eaten by Ursi."

Esper giggles and I ask Nebula, "Do you think there's a way for me to hook you up to your rocket launcher's holoscreen? It has to have a camera to do that, right?"

She holds a hand to her chin, "Hmm... yeah that sounds like it'll actually work. Hey, Esper, don't you actually carry a camera?"

Esper exclaims, "Oo! That's right! Gimme a sec!"

I pull out my programming kit that I usually use to modify my weapons and batteries and have Esper hand me the body camera she has and Nebula's energy launcher. I plug some of my micro-USB heads into part of Nebula's mask, another into her launcher, and one into the camera. I get a screen from Nebula's mask that reads, "Updating Codec. Improving quality based on user patterns. Optimizing."

I see the targeting system for her launcher and adjust the camera, getting the widest view from it as possible and make the targeting crosshair smaller to obstruct vision less and let her see more. It can zoom in, at least. I make the vision as wide as possible and jury rig the camera to the front of Nebula's face and she looks... stupid. To put it nicely. Just... stupid.

I can tell she's pouting behind the mask and she tells us, "Shut up... I know I look like a total jackass but you guys at least have normal eyes to look through."

I ask her, holding up a hand to her face, "How's the depth perception?"

She groans, "Annoying... but I've done it before when only one of the eyes worked. It's just about... two inches in front of where I usually can see right now. I feel like a fucking chameleon seeing out of my launcher, though..."

Godwell loses his shit, "Oh my god! HAHA! HAHAHA! A FUCKING CHAMELEON, SHE SAYS! HAHA!"

She grabs her launcher and drives the end of it into his visor, getting a chuckle herself when he's left clutching his face from outside the helmet, "OW! THE HELL!?"

She undoes the part of her mask covering her mouth, sticking out her tongue, mocking his voice, "OW he says! OW! Big bad boy can't handle a little boop on the nose!?"

He grits his teeth behind his mask, "You little-"

I raise a hand, "Enough. As much as I enjoy this display between you two... We have an objective."

I lead the way to the back door, which we unlock with the key that Esper found during our lunch. We move at a little slower than normal pace to allow Nebula to maintain her bearing. We move cautiously, not wanting to risk getting in a fight with Nebula's current condition. We're halfway to the location of the lab. We pick as many side streets and alleyways as possible but the inevitable still comes...

A fight.

While we're walking through one of the side streets... I walk into it. The low-lighting and the fact that it's fucking black... I walk into the web of an Arachne. I calm down and tell Godwell, "Cut me out of this thing... please."

He immediately does and just as soon as he does, his body gets launched into mine and we're both on the ground. I go to push him off but can't move my arms... Can't move much of anything, really.

He grits, "Fuck... We're caught..."

I can see from the top of one of the buildings that compose this slim space... a black figure descending from above. I see its eight eyes fixed upon us, a chill running up my cold spine and Godwell asks, "What's wrong? You just went pretty stiff... and I'm not talking about your dick against mine."

A blast from Nebula's launcher dissuades the Grimm from continuing and I hear each of her spheres burning lasers through our web prison. We're released and I see the Grimm on the roof and shoot Esper straight in the chest with a dispersed shot from Amber King, avoiding getting caught in the stringshot from the creature above. Nebula fires another round but the Grimm dodges, moving away on the rooftop. I max charge the next shot with four pumps before overloading it with some of my energy and pull the trigger, sending yellow dispersed shot through the path in front of us, destroying all other webwork that was in the way. Then I hear it. Her scream.

I yell as I draw Gold Omen and pump Amber King for another max charge shot, "Either we kill it first, or we keep fucking running!"

I motion for Godwell to come over and point up and he gets the point. He raises for me to jump up and boosts me to the roof. I yell down, "Get everyone up here!"

I turn just in time to get my energy barrier up and catch a web ball that the Grimm fires at me, setting it ablaze and destroying it. I glare at the hostile, taking in its figure. Arachni are a sort of... humanoid-looking Grimm. They have a lower half that's eight-legged and a top half that protrudes from the bottom with long, spindly arms that are a mix between human and spider-legged with red, bone-like digits protruding out of each limb. The torso is somewhat feminine with bone armor plating, what looks like a skull shape on the chest. It's head is covered by a mask of bone connected to it by black fingers that gradually mold into the white bone, slots for each of its eight eyes to gaze through and I pound my chest with Amber King, "Come on! Bring it!"

It opens its bone mask to hiss at me, revealing a spider mouth in the center between all of its eyes and it snaps shut once again. My allies arrive behind me and I turn on Gold Omen's energy blade, "Glad we all decided on 'kill' instead of running."

Part of the Grimm's back opens up and it reaches its arms back to pull out more web as it opens its mask, the fingers keeping it out of the way and allowing it to spit at the same time as it throws web projectiles. I use Gold Omen to slash through the projectiles and we proceed forward as a group. The Grimm changes its approach and I watch as the frame of its arms move rapidly behind its back. I run forward and it pulls out one of its arms, unveiling a web whip with bone shards in it. It swings for me and I don't have time to block, but Esper intercepts the attack with a beam from one of her spheres and then uses all three to make holograms of herself appearing and disappearing as our enemy rampages with both whips and we both back away to avoid getting hit.

After so much rampaging, it decides to extend both whips on both of our flanks, completely negating Esper's trickery. Esper stops the whip on the left with her blade while I destroy the one on the right with Gold Omen. The Grimm reaches deep into its back and I see a clutter of bones in its hands. It throws them our way but Godwell stands in front firmly and emits a large energy field from his blade in front of himself to keep us all protected. He spins and launches an energy wave for our Arachne nuisance with a duplicate swift behind.

The Grimm throws down a thick blanket to protect from the first one, but the second demolishes its legs. The Grimm screams while Godwell sidesteps, Nebula aiming her launcher clean for its mouth, "I hate spiders."

The projectile obliterates the creature and I let out a sigh of relief before realizing that this is only half of the battle. I tell my teammates, "We're pushing to the lab. We can hold up in there if we're fast enough."

They nod and I ask Esper, "Can No Regrets hold each of us in the air?"

She thinks a little before nodding, "Yeah! Probably not Godwell, though..."

He sighs, "I get it... I need to lose weight."

She chuckles, "You're just tall!"

I nod, "Then get us across to the other side of the street. Godwell can jump."

Esper's multi-tools emerge from her back and she says, "Mimic my grip."

We do as she says and fly over the heads of the Grimm and get across, Godwell following shortly after. He sends a slash through some in the street before we continue running on the rooftops.

Nebula laughs, "Why didn't you think of this sooner!"

I exclaim, cranking the battery I'm carrying and strapping it to my side, a purple field of energy being emitted so we can make even more progress, "Because I think better when my head's full of adrenaline!"

She obliterates a few in our way in front and then reloads before we have to fly over their heads again.

Godwell keeps our backs clear, using double jumps and dash boosts from his legs to keep up. I pull a pin on one of the smoke grenades and use a dispersed shot from Amon and Amber King and send it flying about two hundred yards in front of us, the bombing run arriving before we get to the grenade, giving us plenty of breathing room.-

-We get to a warehouse area that holds our objective and we see that there're Atlas personnel gathered in its area, keeping it clear. I'm confused, "Do they know about the lab?"

Esper nods, "I guess so. Helixcentric and Black Orchid have always had problems with Atlas and some of their technological governing policy and military power. They believe that we're not an appropriate response group to these kinds of threats. They aim to damage the companies with as much evidence as they can get."

Nebula nods, removing the camera from her mask, "They're such hypocrites. I've seen through Ironwood's suit. His prosthetics aren't the most legally created ones either... Fuck Atlas."

I'm surpised but hold no remorse behind what's going to happen, knowing that they're no better than us, "So... We have to kill them..."

Godwell nods, "Yep... You and Esper can stay behind. Nebula and I have done it before. You guys... haven't."

I shake my head, "It's an eventuality. Gonna have to at some point."

These are not the standard run-of-the-mill Atlas personnel. They have heavier armor and weapons than the normal counterparts I've only seen and I count out several of them posted outside of the warehouse. Eight in total, with a perimeter a good hundred yards away from them. They each have energy SMGs and blades holstered to their lower backs and I can tell they'll definitely put up a fight. I ask Esper, "Can you make a hologram of yourself to catch their attention without revealing the sphere?"

She nods and then I ask Nebula, "Who can you take out?"

The demolitionist tells me, "Two if I catch them close to each other. A third if I crush one against the wall. So, three on the far right."

I nod and ask Godwell, "You?"

He prepares his grip, "I got the one on the far left."

I tell them, "Then Esper and I got the ones in the middle. We converge at the door."

Everyone gets in position and Esper sends her sphere into the alleyway, making a hologram of herself as a wounded civillian walk out. She uses her Semblance to make it sound like her, "Please! Y-You need to help me!"

The Atlas soldiers aim their weapons and the front one tells the hologram, "How are you here!?"

Esper makes the hologram yell, "I've... been hiding! I heard a bombing run and gunfire and thought it was a relief effort!"

They let their guard down and move in a little tighter to themselves and I mutter, "Now."

Nebula fires at her intended two targets with two quick blasts and then guides herself through the air as a missile that crushes the third guy against the wall.

Godwell jumps through the air, double jumping for massive distance in a short span of time, crushing his enemy beneath his energy-powered blade.

I jump and use a blast from my left arm to boost myself through the air, quickly drawing Gold Omen before firing Amber king for another boost. I'm not fast enough to catch my first opponent off-guard and he dodges my slash with the energy blade.

He opens fire as he sidesteps and I pull up my left arm to protect my upper body and angle my body behind, taking the projectiles to my left ribs and arm, partially refilling Amon's battery before I open up, taking more blasts to the open chest to secure the kill by stabbing through his neck.

Esper disarms her enemy of his SMG. He's quick to respond, drawing his blade and is in a power struggle with Esper, but she plays dirty.

I see Alpha, Beta, and Delta emerge from her back and blast a hole through his chest before returning to her back. Godwell sends two energy waves, killing the last two. Their perimeter closes in on us and we run into the warehouse.

I grab a smoke grenade from Nebula and throw it outside. Looking inside, we're completely outnumbered. Twenty or so of the same guys within aiming at us.

Godwell immediately places himself between us and them and creates an energy barrel with his sword. There's a large open crate next to us and we move over to it quickly, the bombardment arriving literally two seconds later.

One of the soldiers yells out, "Come out! You're completely outnumbered!"

I try to think of something and ask Nebula, "Can you see the lab's entrance anywhere?"

She nods, "Yes! There's a false piece of ground twenty yards ahead of us! But how do we avoid getting sprayed down?"

I order everyone as I close the container doors, "On three, everyone bash into the side of the container. Godwell, you bash harder."

They nod and I count down, "One... Two... Three!"

We each bash our shoulders into the container wall and it tips over, landing on the side we just slammed against. We get up quickly and I yell, "One, two, three!"

Same effect, a commotion coming from the Atlas personnel. We recover again and I order, "One,two,three!"

Slam. Recovery. Yell, 'Onetwothree!"

Roars of Grimm at the entrance I destroyed with the bombing run. I yell, "Three!"

We automatically keep going as the gunfire erupts outside until Nebula yells, "Stop! Give me your energy blade!"

I toss her Gold Omen and she begins to slice a square into the ground near one of the doors into the container. We listen to the carnage outside and Nebula finishes three of the square's sides before we hear the door opening. The doors are sideways making the bottom of the two doors immediately slam open, revealing a desperate Atlas soldier.

He crawls in part way through and grabs the leg of a stunned Esper. His legs get grabbed by a Wringer's arms and he gets pulled out, dragging Esper with him. She manages to catch the handle of the top door, keeping herself from being pulled all the way.

I yell, "No!" and fire a fully charged shot at the soldier's arm, condeming him to his fate. Esper swings with the door, no longer being suspended by the tension of the Wringer's grip. She rolls from the speed and Nebula yells, "Get in there, now!"

She's made a square skinny enough for us to drop in one at a time and not be followed by Grimm.

It's a little bit of a drop but we each clear away for each other, Nebula returning my weapon and we're definitely in the facility. There's a Helixcentric logo on the ground and one of the walls and we move around the open area and see so much tech. Godwell fills his bag with tons of small things while Esper grabs a few prototype weapons.

Nebula grabs a jumble of stuff and I get some sort of medical-looking containers. Each of us fill our bags entirely and pile everything else in the center. I boost one of the devices in the pile and evidently, it was not designed to withstand such energy.

I back away to my team and listen as the whirring it makes grows louder until it eventually blows up, setting off a chain reaction in everything else, nigh instantly. The pile is destroyed and left in shards and flames and we high-five all around, cheering.

We're silenced by the sound of heavy bombs exploding on the surface above us, shaking the ground. Nebula yells, "We didn't call for more air support!"

Godwell shakes his head, "No... but I bet that Atlas did."

It's going to be that much harder to get out.-

-End of Part 02


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

 **No Time for Rest: Part 03**

 **A/N:** Hello one and all, once again. So... Chapter 20. I'm glad to have gotten this far and within the same day as the Vol. 5 premier. I saw it on Thursday at my local theater with episodes 10-12 in Vol. 4 with like, a sort of... what they were thinking behind what each episode was about and what they were thinking when making them. It was... pretty cool being there with a bunch of other fans. So music recommendation this time around, Vol. 4's soundtrack. I'll let you guys read on.-

-We wait for silence from above and climb out when it all seems calm. I'm last to follow and the entire area around us is cratered and demolished, the signs of dead Grimm decaying away amidst the scattered body parts and corpses of the Atlas soldiers.

Seems destroying them with the Grimm was a mercy killing.

A small airship is landing down the street in front of us and part of it opens, two officer-looking individuals step out backed up by a few soldiers acting as their guard, killing stray approaching Grimm. One of the officers is wearing a metal chest piece over his coat while the female has it under.

The one in front has short cut blonde hair has a moderately sized gauntlet on and he calls out to us, "We didn't intend to enter a scrap, but if we have to take you and that equipment by force, we will."

My team members look at me for what our next course of action is and I tell the Atlas officer, "Well, we're not letting our resources into Atlas hands."

He looks at his partner and asks her, "What do you think about that, Phobos?"

The female has her blonde hair in a short ponytail and she's carrying a small oval shield on her right arm with a small sword in it, "I don't think we're allowed to fail this task without repercussions, Deimos. Father is the last one we want to disappoint."

Deimos cricks his neck and tells us, "Hand the bags over and cooperate. Do that and we can help you get a more lenient-"

I fire a fully charged blast from Amber King at him from my hip and his sister blocks the blast with her shield by dashing. She draws her blade and spins, throwing her blade at me and charges. I notice that both her blade and herself glow purple for an instant and she's traveling just as quickly as her blade. Godwell gets in front and prepares to block both her and her blade and as soon as her blade makes contact with his blade, it flashes just the instant it hits before being deflected by his horizontal block. Phobos has stopped moving rapidly just in front of his blade and catches hers, spinning to slash his legs but is just met with the sound of metal hitting metal and is left vulnerable. Godwell lets out a light chuckle as he attempts to bring his blade down on her but Phobos quickly blocks above herself with her shield, evading any damage. She quickly drives her hilt into his gut followed by rising and driving her shield into his visor, sending him recoiling away from her, stunned.

I charge Amon's energy blade and go to stab her while Esper does the same with No Regrets, but Phobos spins and deflects both of our attacks with ease, slashing the straps of our equipment bags, causing them to fall off of us. She giggles a little before going to kick one away, but Nebula intervenes. She's holding her energy launcher backwards at her hip with both hands, the front end sealed, but the rear seems to have a grate on the back of it and she pulls the trigger, sending a dispersed blast of energy (larger than anything Amber King could ever produce when boosted) her way. She gets sent flying away by the blast and Terra grabs the grenade from my rear pouch, telling us, "We don't have time for this!"

Her launcher's screen has a cooldown timer going that'll last eight seconds.

She throws it behind us and as soon as she does, I hear a metal impact sound, followed by the sound of a body slumping to the ground. I turn and see an unconscious Esper on the ground before Deimos plants his fist into my chest, sending me flying into Godwell, all of us unable to stop him from slumping her over his shoulder and grabbing the bag, "Didn't know you had an evac prepped. At least we get one of you and a bag. Phobos!"

Deimos tries to flee with her but I hear Terra yell, "No chance!"

She draws out a weird-looking gun from her duffel bag and she pulls the trigger. I expect it to blast him or something, but instead, it creates a weird sort of cone made of waves in front of itself, Deimos stopped mid-escape. I see something invisible pulling at Esper's body and the bag and I realize that it's a magnetic field gun! Deimos's gauntlet, the bag, and most of what composes Esper's armor is being pulled. Deimos is able to get himself out of the field but is unable to succeed in his original goal. He curses before heading for the ship they arrived in, yelling, "Call in more mortar fire!"

Our craft arrives, orientating itself with its rear to us so that we can each jump in, Terra and Godwell each carrying two bags while I bring on Esper. Our ship quickly shifts gears and we're flying out of there back to base for the next few hours.-

-We arrive back at the base and I managed to heal the bump on the back of Esper's head without any sign of residual damage and she woke up a few minutes before we got back. When we disembark from the ship in the hangar, we're met by Akamuro and I'm confused. I figured we'd meet with someone under him. I thought he'd be too busy. He announces to us as he approaches, "There they are! RGEN. You guys can relax. Take off the helmets, breathe, you earned it. You guys finished the job WAY quicker than any of us thought you would! We expected four days' time at least!"

We remove our headgear and follow him to an empty room and he has us place the bags on a table within and Godwell asks, "Sir, why are we reporting to you?"

Glad he asked before me. Nadeshiko's father responds, "Because, Godwell, you kids are my personal project. No one else is responsible for you but me. I am very glad though, that you guys were efficient in your mission. Is this is all you brought back?"

We nod and he asks, "You manage to destroy the rest of it?"

I nod, "Yes, I destroyed the rest of all of the gear with a supercharge that set off multiple explosions."

He nods and tells us, "I'll be glad to tell the council. They make personnel plans and decisions and they've always doubted my idea of expanding past security and becoming our own special force. But with what you guys managed in such a short amount of time, that's pretty good for the future pitch. Your group will be compensated within the hour on your accounts. Here."

He hands us cards of sorts and Godwell asks, excited, "ARE THESE BLACK CARDS!?"

Akamuro chuckles a little and tells him, "Not exactly. They're each funded by your efforts, the accounts of this company run by several banks that I've invested in. You can spend it wherever you like. You can access your accounts via your Scrolls. Just send a text here with four 'X's and you will be prompted for your pins. After that, you'll get a link to set up everything else. But for now, you guys are good to carry on. We'll make contact when we have another job for you. You, Munsell. Stay for a moment."

The other three leave and I stay back, Akamuro asking, "You want to come for a visit?"

I'm confused, "Huh? What?"

He chuckles, "Remember the lie we fed to your brother?"

I nod, surprised, and also, still a little overwhelmed by how much action I've seen in the past four days. Literally no time to right and properly mourn and fully process everything that happened at Beacon, "Oh. Yeah. Sure. I'm down."

Hell... I haven't even taken a look at the files that Professor Tirrian sent me.

He nods and tells me, "Then follow along. You can change and shower in my ship on the way there. The bags you packed for the 'trip' are in there waiting for you already."

I nod and follow him along and we board what is essentially a smaller luxury version of the ships we've been riding on up until now. It's exterior was predominantly white with some black and purple and the logo on the twin tails of the ship. The inside is virtually the same with the decoration and trim being of black and purple, the furniture and walls being white while the carpet is black with the logo. I find the shower and get changed into my normal gear and join Akamuro in the main part of the ship. There aren't any windows so as to maintain security but I don't care. I ask him, "How's Nadeshiko been?"

He gives a side nod, "She's been well. Practicing with her blades and Semblance."

I remember what she told me about her parents were regarding her training growing up and I follow up with, "Nadeshiko told me about how you and her mother didn't offer that much support in her becoming a Huntress."

Akamuro has his head in one of his hands in his chair, his arm propped on the armrest. He lightly sighs and closes his eyes, "Munsell. We love our daughters. _Both_ of them. It's just that... the first years of my wife and I were establishing were... very challenging. We had to jump several obstacles and invest so much time. We weren't there for her as much as we knew she needed as a child... and by the time we finally had our feet on firm ground... Nadeshiko was an adolescent training to be a Huntress. She... was used to it and we thought it would only make her performance fall to a lower level."

I'm quiet and he continues, sitting with his hands together, no longer resting on the armrest, "I am proud of her. I am proud of my little girl. Both of my little girls. We can't relate as well to her because we're in completely different field as her. We don't know what you guys do. I wish I could've been a better father to her, but then again, who doesn't have that thought when they look back? I wasn't there for Sheena. You were. And I feel that I'm still indebted to you beyond anything you can understand, Munsell. You're pretty good at keeping my daughters safe. I want you to keep doing so with Nadeshiko."

I feel my face flush red and my heart extremely hot in my chest as the rest of my body becomes cold from his words. He means that.

I nod, "Yes, sir."

He chuckles, "Ha... please, Munsell. Relax."

I chuckle and sit across from him in a chair.-

-We arrive at our destination, the ship's side opening to a rather luxurious home. Three floors. Built like a mansion out of polymer gas and carbon fibers. It's a pretty amazing sight with its cut hedges and a sort of moat with exotic fish swimming within. Akamuro chuckles from behind me, "Sorry if it's a bit much. We tried to make it as comfortable as possible but sometimes it can feel a bit empty. The guest room is next to Nadeshiko's. You can ask her to show you before tonight's over."

I follow him into their home's foyer and its interior is dominantly white with the same black and purple trim as Black Orchid. Akamuro announces into a module that he presses a button on, "I'm back! All three of my girls, come see who our guest is!"

They come from different parts of the home, Nadeshiko's mother in a lab jacket, Sheena accompanied by two nannies, and Nadeshiko is in a large sweater, wearing slippers and shorts that are mostly covered by her sweater. Nadeshiko's face becomes super red and her eyes wide and she flees, "No! Munsell, you shouldn't see me in writing mode!"

I chuckle and call out, "Guess your little sister gets a hug and a kiss first!"

Sheena runs over and I crouch down so she can hug me around the neck, "Niichan!"

I chuckle and kiss her cheek as I wrap my arms around her, "Hello, Little One."

She kisses my cheek and tells me, "Miss you."

I nod and stand up, carrying her and rub the top of her head, "I know! Aren't you glad I'm here now, though!?"

She giggles and nods, "Yeah!"

I kiss her forehead and her nannies are dismissed, seeing as I'm here now to spoil her. A few moments later, Nadeshiko returns in a dark blue kimono, complementing her eyes and a green ribbon to go with it. It's short to where it's showing the bottom of her shorts, wearing the same white slippers. She comes and kisses Sheena's forehead in my arms. I put Sheena down and follow Nadeshiko to her room after her mother tells us, "You two have fun."

Shiko leads me to her room and I see her swords in their stand and her computer on her bed with some music playlist on one half of the screen and the other half being a document page for her book. I ask her, "What's Rhiner mixed up in now?"

She replies, "Well, his friends Ezra and Faragaut in the Blank Movement have set up a meeting between him and one of their undercover members in the Association. What they don't know is that he's been compromised and they're looking to kill the agent and capture Rhiner!"

I smile lightly at seeing her excited by her work and ask, "So what's going to happen? Rhiner going to save the agent?"

I expect her to respond positively and Shiko shakes her head, "Nope. The agent's going to get sniped. As soon as they shake hands at the meet."

DAMN! She's ruthless! I tell her, "Wait a minute, wait a minute! Last time you let me read, he was in Rin trying to keep his girlfriend from breaking up with him! Now he's meeting undercover, soon-to-be-sniped agents!? Gimme that!"

I grab her computer and she sits next to me on her bed and plugs in her headphones and gives me one so that we can both listen.-

-It's a fun time getting caught up to where Nadeshiko has written. It's good how far she's gotten and how well-written it is. I offer my input when she asks for it but she really seems to have gotten much more into the swing of her writing with the help of Blake... before the Fall...

Nadeshiko remembers something and snaps me out of my remembering the events of the Fall, "We haven't visited Yang and Ruby yet! I don't know about Weiss, but I know we could go visit those two!"

I nod, "Yeah. That's right. I'm sure they'd enjoy the company. We could really help brighten up the time they've been having. Your father could probably get us some transport."

Shiko nods, "Yeah. I'm sure he wouldn't be against it. Although... I don't think I can reach them."

Well... I know I can, being connected to her father's company's network. I ask her, "When would you like to go visit them?"

She responds, "Maybe in two days. I want to enjoy your company for a few days. Besides..." she removes the ribbon from her kimono and allows it to expose the skin of her breasts a little bit, "The night's almost over."

Nadeshiko's right. It's about an hour to midnight. From what I can tell... the rest of the house is quiet and she asks me, "Munsell... can we? I know it's only been a few days since I last saw you, but I didn't even think I'd see you for maybe another few weeks, seeing as how everything is... I just really missed you."

It hurts me to lie to her face with my presence that this is all for her father and my involvement in his company. I'm lying to Sterling, too. I blush red as she tugs on my jacket lightly, "Well... as long as we're quiet... and don't wake anyone up."

She giggles lightly, "Well... my room is next to Sheena's... and she's sleeping with Mom and Dad since her nannies won't be here until you're gone. Mom and Dad are taking a few days off from work. So..."

She slides off her kimono to expose her white bra to me and I kiss her neck, "Alright... then maybe we won't be entirely silent."-

-It's two days later, about two in the afternoon and I'm with Nadeshiko in her room, ready to place the call to their father. She gives me a thumbs up after I ask her with my eyes, 'Same plan, right?'

I dial the number in my contacts labeled, 'Tai' and am greeted by the sound of their father's voice, "Hello? Who is this?"

I respond, "Hello, sir. This is Munsell. I'm a friend of your daughters. I'm the one who treated Yang's arm and have helped Ruby with advice for how to be a solid leader for her team."

He brightens up on the other side, "Oh! Yeah! That's right! What do you need, what's going on?"

I ask him, "Well... I was wondering if I could come and visit, sir. We have a ship that can get us there in a few minutes if you're not against it. I wanted to come visit to check up on Yang and Ruby."

Tai responds, "Yeah, sure. We're not hyper busy or anything, so yeah. I think it'd be good if you came to visit them. I only have one condition."

I'm surprised, "Sure. What is it, sir?"

He replies, "When you get here, you call me 'Tai', not 'sir'."

I chuckle, "Alright. Sounds good, then... s-Tai."

He sends the address and I call out to Nadeshiko's father in the hallway, "I've got the address, he said it was cool!"

Akamuro tells us, walking in, "I'll leave you two in the charge of Bastion. He'll fly you over and back and stay with the ship. You kids have fun until then. Nadeshiko, your mother and I will be with Sheena in town. If you kids need anything, you can reach us."-

-When the ship lands, we're greeted by Tai and his daughters. Yang's in a muscle shirt and shorts, her right arm's stump concealed by bandaging, hair down, while Ruby is in a black hoodie with her emblem and a skirt. Ruby hugs Nadeshiko tightly, cheerily muffled with her face buried in Nadeshiko's neck, "Oh, it's so good to see you!"

I extend my left hand out to Yang and ask, "How've you been?"

Yang hesitates for an instant and takes my hand, "I've been alright. You?"

I tell her, "Been fine. Been trying to unwind these past few days. Lot happening."

She nods, "Yep. I feel you."

Ruby asks us after separating from Nadeshiko, "Where's Terra and Carmine!?"

I respond, "I'll fill you guys in inside. There's... some catching up to do."

They nod and Tai leads us into their home, "Alright, hope you guys like our humble abode."

Once inside, we follow the girls up to their room and Ruby asks, "So where're the other two?"

I tell her, "Umm... after..." I sigh and decide it'll be easier for everyone if I don't waste time sugarcoating, "the Fall... we delivered you guys to your dad and uncle. They took care of you. Blake... ran. Disappeared. Something. Weiss's father came for her."

Yang tells me, sounding a little less... Yang than usual, "Yeah. We know. Tell us something new."

I shrug it off and continue, "Well. I also brought Jaune with us. No word on Ren and Nora. He didn't know where they were and neither did we. Got everyone back home with my brother's help after some rest. I don't know how Jaune's been but Carmine and Terra are alright. They're handling everything that's happened pretty well. How about you guys?"

Ruby doesn't say anything but gives a side glance to Yang. Yang tells her, "Ruby. I don't want you feeling sorry for me. I don't want these two to either. I'm _fine._ " She turns her attention to us, "I've been... getting used to things. It's hard... but not impossible. I just... don't like everyone feeling like I can't do anything for myself."

I nod, "I know how you feel."

Ruby flinches a little and Yang asks our two group mates, "Can you two step out for a few minutes?"

The younger of the two is concerned, "Yang, are y-"

Yang cuts her off, "Ruby. I just want to speak Munsell about some stuff I can't discuss with you."

Nadeshiko wraps an arm around Ruby and guides her out, "C'mon. They'll be fine. Just give them some time."

I don't like this Yang. Straight to business but with none of her old swagger. None of that vibrancy. None of her spunk.

Hurt. Broken. Failure.

Sounds similar to myself when I was in the same situation.

Yang asks me, "How would you know, Munsell?"

I tell her, "I lost my arm, too, remember."

The brawler shakes her head, "You weren't without it for as long as I am, Munsell. Not all of us can just protect a life and get compensated for it just because we got hurt like you and Nadeshiko's sister. We can't all get some damn gift from some company head saying _'oh, hey, I owe you'_ and get compensated. Some of us lose what we sacrificed and the person we _'protected'_ runs out on us. You can't tell me you 'know how it feels', flaunting around that fucking thing."

Her words are sharp. I can't say I didn't see it coming, but not to this extent. This isn't someone who's just angry because it's easy to be angry. This is someone who's really sat back and looked at everything that led up to this and knew that they did everything in their power but it came around and bit them.

I ask the blonde, "What do you want me to say then, Yang? 'Sorry'? You already said it yourself, you don't want us feeling sympathy but who the fuck are you to tell us we can't try to be there for you? You know you're hurting Ruby, right? Don't you love your sister? Don't you think she wants to get to know what's going on in that damn thick skull of yours? How you feel?"

Yang seems to have an answer or two to some of my questions but not all of them. I tell her, "Y'know what... I don't let this..." I begin to remove Amon from his base, "to determine who I am, or what I can do. I use this..." I hold it out in front of me, "to remind me that I can still keep going. Not the same way as before. But it's something. You wanna know the first thing I remembered when I got this thing?"

She's silent, staring at me with fire in her eyes, without them being red, "What?"

I tell her, "'I hope you get a badass new arm.'"

I place it on the bed behind me and she's confused, "Huh?"

I remind the golden girl, "It's what you told me before you left my hospital room the day everyone came to visit me."

She's surprised that I remembered _that_ and brought _it_ up of all things, "Why are you bringing up something so stupid!?"

I tell her, my voice rising a little bit, "Because that same 'stupid' thing was one of the reasons I didn't give up, Yang! I didn't give up because I didn't want anyone to feel sorry for me. Like you do. Right now. I didn't give up because I didn't want everyone to feel disappointed in me. I know you don't feel like your sister or father are disappointed in you. You're disappointed in yourself. I know I can't help you change your mind, but please... don't shut out everyone who cares or tries to care for you."

She's thinking for a little bit, looking down into her lap, fist clenched and I walk over, wrapping my arm around her head and hugging her to my chest. She doesn't move at first but then wraps her arm around my back, sobbing lightly and I tell her, feeling what's going through her head, "I know. You don't have to tell me anything else. You don't have to tell anyone else either. Just... let them in a little bit. They're worried."

Yang's quiet and when she finishes, she tells me, "You can let go now..."

I do and she wipes away some tears, telling me, "You better not tell my sister I cried."

I chuckle and tell her, "I won't. I don't mind keeping the arm off while I'm here. I don't have it on 24/7."

She shakes her head, "I don't want you to burden yourself to make me feel better. Then we'd have everyone looking after two handicapped people and I don't think it'd be fair to them."

I chuckle and nod and the rest of the visit runs smoothly.-

End


	21. C21- Operation: Gravedigger

**Chapter 21**

 **Operation: Gravedigger - Part 01**

 **A/N:** I apologize for such a long absence, dear old friends. I'm here and intend to upload way more often. Will also be updating minor issues such as name mistakes (drowsiness...) and formatting and layout mistakes throughout the previous chapters. A lot of stuff has happened in my busy little Marine life. Music recommendation is 'Panic Room' by Au/Ra. Love it. Hope you enjoy this chapter.-

-It's been a few months since I've started working for Akamuro with my new team. About a month in, I was invited by Ruby to join her, Jaune, Ren, and Nora with going to Haven Academy... but I've had to work for Akamuro. It's not that... I didn't want to go with them. I just owe her father for my arm... and I'm helping out more people than if I joined Ruby. I did, however, give her group one of my batteries converted into a portable charger.

I'm helping Black Lotus with developing technology for helping fight against the Grimm and generating approval from the council members who've been watching our progress. If we can earn approval for Akamuro that they allow him to make more groups, then this company can truly become a security-providing force for the people of Remnant with just as much operating potential as Atlas, without the same tainted image as them after the Fall.

I'm standing in front of Akamuro with my armored teammates in his office. He tells us, "Take a seat so we can begin."

We do and he immediately gets into it, "This... may be the most difficult mission you've ever been assigned. The council... has asked me to pull up names for three more teams to start missions like yourselves. Following this job... you guys will have much more breathing room."

Godwell is just as to-the-point as ever, "And the job, sir?"

He responds, "You... have to clear out an area in Anima."

Godwell's eyes bulge, "Of people!?"

Akamuro chuckles, "No, no... hehe... Godwell... It is an area overwhelmed by the presence of Grimm."

Nebula asks, "So... is it smaller than Vale?"

He nods and adds, "Yes, but the area consists of a forest full of Grimm and a few surrounding settlements that have been overrun."

Esper is confused, "But doesn't that mean that the Grimm will just keep coming? How will we know when our mission is done? When the Grimm stop?"

Our supervisor nods, "I understand your concern. We will be watching through your visors. The council knows that you won't be successful. They will keep coming. The council just wants to get a gauge of what you're capable of and an idea of what they should expect from three more cells like you kids."

I nod my comprehension and ask, "So... this is the last thing we need to do before they approve?"

He nods and I ask, "Then do we have any special gear we're testing out this time?"

We've been given various tools and equipment during the past few jobs, from gravity field guns, chemical grenades, to prosthetic limb mods, some more handy than others.

Akamuro nods, "Yes. We've been reviewing each of your prosthetics' data and we've made you each improved versions. They each come with more features, better efficiency, and less data spikes: the reason for your sudden bursts of pain and malfunctions. Those, however, have been tested for you. You should not face any sort of complications at a rate higher than what you're used to... As negative as that sounds..."

We nod and become a little bit excited. The more comfort, the better. After that, Akamuro pulls out a remote and presses it. The lights dim and a hologram appears out of the table, "This is the area you will be operating in. Don't worry about staying in one place and bunkering down. You can flee and move around. Just stay within these bounds."

I feel my gut churn a little as I see that within the area of operation is Kuroyuri. I ask, "Where are we deploying?"

He points to the green area between Kuroyuri and two other settlements in the bounds, "You will be deployed there. Make your way to whatever settlements are nearby and kill as many as possible. You will be in the vicinity for seventy-two solid hours. Don't be afraid of disengaging any combat. Literally ANYTHING you do is being evaluated. Just stay alive and kill a ton of Grimm."

We nod confirmation and he turns off the hologram projector, "Go to the medbay. They'll rig your new prosthetics."

We follow his order and head down the different halls until we reach the medbay. When we enter, I notice sets of prosthetics on stands. We're greeted by a few technicians and surgeons who seem excited.

Guess they really enjoy their work.

Each of us is taken up by a pair of surgeons and one technician into different parts of the room.

The male surgeon in my group asks me, "Can you disengage the limb?"

I nod and take out the battery in the forearm, disabling all weapon systems. They unlock the limb from its base and remove it before replacing it with a new, identical-looking one. I reload the battery and the technician tells me, "Decreased the thinness of the projector lenses with better reinforcement and magnification, so more energy will come out when firing or using the other modes. Also, improved the processing systems which means less energy drain upon all forms of use."

I flex my arm and don't feel a difference, but if I'll figure it out based off of my use, then we'll see. I look to my companions who are getting a feel for their gear and they seem excited. It all better work. We're gonna be deploying into combat soon. I give my team a nod and they follow me to the quartermaster's.

When we arrive he hands me a belt with four compact circular devices. He tells me, "These devices spin and create additional charge in your batteries while they're inside of these."

I nod and load it up with my batteries. He tells Nebula, "Hand me your launcher."

She nods and does and he pulls out a screwdriver. He undoes the component for the launcher's trigger mechanism and replaces it with an identical one that has a tertiary trigger, "Now, you can fire, switch between modes, and lastly, detonate any midair projectiles."

He pulls out a small energy machine gun and tells her, "This'll protect you when your launcher is unavailable, overheated, charging, or inconvenient."

Godwell comes over and he hands him an interesting device, "Your sword's data has helped us accurately replicate the technology it has into a defensive form. Here" he hands him a sort of metal circle with straps attached, "That device goes on your back and will allow you to create energy fields to protect your rear while you use your sword for your front."

Godwell puts it on, commenting, "I feel like an armadillo..."

The quartermaster holds out a sword sheathe to Esper and she hands him her old one. He tells her, "That sheathe has a motorized mechanism, allowing you to pre-eject it for quicker draw speeds or even launch the weapon, causing blunt force trauma with the handle."

She attaches the sheathe to the carrier strap on her waist and the quartermaster gives us waist pouches and thigh packs that hold supplies for the following seventy-two hours. Our pilot crew picks us up from the quartermaster's and leads us to our ship.

When we get on the ship, I fall asleep as quickly as possible. It's going to be one of the few times any of us can sleep these next few days.-

-I'm woken up several hours later by Esper shaking my shoulder, "They announced that we have a minute."

I nod and slip on my helmet, seeing everyone prepping and checking their gear and the ramp opens up in the back, a pilot coming on the speaker, "Drop zone coming up in 30."

We all get up and hold handles on the walls of the ship for balance. The lead pilot yells, "Go! Now!"

We each run out and jump, dropping through the freefall. Nebula is the first one to use this time to spin through the air and flip at her leisure. Then Esper, then Godwell. I decide to ignore the red recording circle in my visor and join in on the fun with them.

As we approach the lower altitude of our freefall, we prepare for landing. Nebula prepares her launcher in its blastback cannon mode, Esper ejects the spheres in her back and uses two to support her feet while she grabs the last one to levitate down.

Godwell and I use dispersed energy to catch ourselves. We look around and I pull up the map on my visor. I turn toward the direction of Kuroyuri and tell them, "Kuroyuri is the closest. We'll lock down there and prepare."

My team confirms the order and we head toward the village.-

-After a few minutes of approaching the village, we encounter our first Grimm. It's a Beowulf Beta and Esper fires her blade at it. The blade's hilt strikes its forehead and it's stunned, one of her spheres hitting it in the same spot as well, attaching to her blade in mid-air, severing its head.

Godwell comments, "We're still half a mile out from the village and here's where we face our first Grimm? Fuck... gonna be hard getting there."

For once, Nebula agrees with him instead of calling him something related to an idiot, "Yeah... I don't like the looks of it."

I make sure my weapons are charged and loaded, "Well... it's our job. We'll make it."-

-We press on, their numbers and frequency steadily rising. We dispose of them quickly and with little disturbance. We're the most serious that I've ever seen. In short time, we arrive at the village entrance.

I see banners sporting Kuroyuri's emblem and chills run through my body by the sight.

My parents died here.

I clench my grip around my rifle and see how populated by Grimm this place is. Not as much as Vale, but it's still a load of them. I tell my team, "We will try to remain as safe as possible, moving around or holding up, either way, we're killing."

I calm down and let the frustration pass. I'd rather not endanger my teammates by being reckless.

We approach slowly, trying to avoid detection, but a stray, medium-sized Nevermore flying overhead spots us and screeches, indicating our presence to the rest of the Grimm in the village.

Nebula is the first to engage. She fires twice and we watch her projectiles go. The first hits the front of the gathering crowd of enemies, leaving a nice gap. The second explosive is in the center of the space created and Nebula pulls her newest trigger. The explosion exploits the carnage left by the first, sending broken bone wide before it can dissolve away, tearing apart a bigger radius than the first explosion.

I yell, "Blitz them!"

Godwell charges forward, boosting himself with his legs, and swings his blade like a massive pendulum, severing several Beowolves and Ursi in two. I take the left side while Esper takes right. I sever the head of a Beowolf and slice another in half with a scissor attack. I dodge an Ursa and embed my arm's blade in its chest, rotating my hand 180 degrees before firing a dispersed blast in the cavity.

Esper takes the right-hand side and slices down an Ursa before being met with a Wringer. She generates a hologram and the Wringer falls for the decoy. All it takes is one move. It reaches an arm for the hologram and its particles disperse. She uses the distraction to get close and drive her blade through its throat.

Nebula rejoins us, her one-handed SMG drawn and roundhouse kicks away a Beowulf before spraying down two others, "This is gonna be fun!"

I look around and see several more approaching Grimm in the distance. It's not enough to overwhelm us for now, but it could if we idle. I yell out, "Esper, you and I will cut a path to the right! Nebula, use your launcher to keep the left suppressed, Godwell, protect us!"

They confirm and Esper comes up to my side, launching her blade with the trigger, killing a Red Hood by crushing its skull's exoskeleton, catching the handle and moving to slash through three Beowolves in one move.

I charge my body up and the batteries on my back rotate faster, generating a low whir. I zoom to each of four Beowolves with both my left arm, Amon and my knuckle bracer, Barbados, charged, leaving large cavities in their bodies as I punch clean through them.

I zoom to a Wringer and punch through its limbs as it tries to grab me. After they're destroyed, it screeches and tries to make a last-ditch effort to use its tail to grab me. I charge Amon's energy blade and slash through it before impaling its chest and moving on to my next targets.

Nebula uses her launcher to clear distant groups while she uses her kicks and SMG for close combat. As Nebula dodges around, she uses the body of her launcher to block other blows.

The same Nevermore from before screeches and tries to dive-bomb Esper but Godwell charges over and severs it in two with swift judgement. I see a church ahead and see that the front doors are open a crack. I yell to the others, "Get in the church, Esper first, me second, then Nebula and Godwell. You two will be holding them back until I give the word."

They confirm and Esper dashes in front of me, slashing through a few Grimm that get in our way. I prepare Amon and Amber King to fire energy beams and shoot down smaller Nevermore that come our way. Godwell takes a few energy swings behind us and duplicates them along with the projectiles that Nebula's launcher makes. Esper makes it into the church first and passes word through our headsets, "It's clear!"

I nod and make it into the church myself and tell Esper, "Give me a boost!"

I jump and she uses her orbs to lift me up to the church's rafters. I tell the other two, "Get in! I'll snipe any that try to slip in with you!"

They do and a Beowulf Alpha and two Nevermores get in by jumping and flying over them. Godwell keeps the door shut while Nebula takes aim at the enemies. I yell as I shoot down the Nevermores with Amber King and Amon, "No! Don't fire in case you miss and give them an opening!"

She growls and draws her SMG and charges the Beowulf. It grabs one of the pews and smacks her away cleanly, Nebula hitting the wall hard. Godwell manages to barricade the entrance and charges the Beowulf himself, blade poised and ready. He takes a vertical swing and it sidesteps, Godwell too slow to recover. It grabs him by the arms and begins to pull them away from his torso, trying to tear him apart.

I take aim and see three laser beams sever its wrists before Esper dashes past with a loud 'SHING!' sound. Godwell lands on the ground and steps aside, avoiding the headless carcass that falls forward before dissipating.

I drop down from my spot in the rafters and we lightly celebrate. I tell them, "We've secured the main area of the church, but we still need to check the rest, make sure that if there's a hole in a wall somewhere, we can barricade the door leading to the compromised room if we can't seal the hole itself. Esper with me. Nebula with Godwell."

They nod and we split up to investigate the church.

Esper and I go through several small classrooms while Nebula and Godwell go through the other areas.

Partway through our sweep, Esper goes through a door leading to a room with small confessionals. She walks through and checks each of the five and stops at the third, "Hey... Munsell. Can I tell you something?"

I nod, taking a look around, "Sure thing. Go ahead."

Esper tells me, "This is a little embarassing... but..."

I give her a gesture to go on and she does, "I really... love..."

My breath catches and she continues, "...being away from the base for once. Actually going out and experiencing this with you guys... Even though it's a messed up part of the world... I still get to be a part of it... th-the world, I mean..."

I chuckle at dodging that bullet, "Oh. Okay. Yeah. I get what you mean."

Esper asks, "Is it wrong?"

I'm confused, "Is what wrong?"

She keeps moving through the room and clarifies, "That I enjoy being out of the base."

I shake my head, "I don't think so. You've been cooped up there so long. It's only natural."

Esper turns around to face me and asks, checking the size of a hole in the wall to the outside, "Why are you here, Munsell?"

I'm even more confused than before, "Huh? What do ya mean?"

She grabs a nearby cabinet and shuffles it over the hole, "I mean, you don't need to be doing any of this. I'm pretty sure you were in a good spot before any of our missions."

I tell her as we head back to the others, "Yeah... You're right about all that. I'm only here... because I feel alive when I'm doing something. Not just boring everyday stuff, like going to the mall, or going out on dates. I love this," and gesture around us, "the violence. The fighting. The thrill. I don't know if it's because of all the bad shit that's happened to me till now or because I actually enjoy all of it, but this is all normal stuff to me. The way it should be... For me, I mean. Do you get what I'm trying to say?"

Esper giggles, "Yeah. I get it. I've met my share of former Huntsmen and Hunresses who were part of the staff... They were the same way, doing it because they wanted something to keep them busy that... a normal life doesn't offer. I wish I had an opportunity like you to experience more than what I've known."

I chuckpe as we walk back to the main area of the church, "Well, maybe you can if they implement the new teams."

Godwell and Nebula are waiting for us and I ask, "How's it all looking?"

Godwell answers as Nebula looks through the walls with her eyes, "We secured the other parts of the church but the Grimm are still out there."

Nebula adds, "They're gathering in all directions around us. They seem to be waiting for an opportunity. We shouldn't stay here too long."

I nod, "Thanks for the update. Godwell. Map, please."

He nods and pulls out a small holographic projector and displays our mission's current layout. I pull out a laser pointer and point at out location, indicated by a dot, "We're here. In a church. We need to figure out the best route we can take. We need to decide now if we're just gonna go from here to another position or try our luck on the move."

Nebula's first to voice her opinion, "Being indoors restricts my main weapon. While being able to see the Grimm without them seeing us is a nice advantage, my vision won't do anything to physically stop them once they decide to attack."

Esper seconds the notion, "I would be able to generate holograms for distraction."

Godwell grabs his blade and shifts it a little, "Then I'll keep you guys protected."

I smile behind my helmet, "Well then. I guess we're going with 'on the move'. Godwell, map, please."

He pulls out a holographic projector that shows the map in 3D, everything a green silhouette and I pull out a laser pointer.

"This," I indicate our location on the map, "Is the church we're currently in. We'll need to figure out the best route for us to take."

We're all focused on the map for the next few moments but none of us come up with anything. I clap my habds together and sigh, "Alright, we can come back to this, we have time after all."

Nebula's the only one still focusing her attention on it. She motions for my laser pointer and we watch entranced as it fervidly dashes from location to location, Nebula rapidly whispering to herself but some pieces of it becoming louder, "Then this way... No... Esper'd... and then I'd... Godwell's too fat... Munsell and... I always..."

Just when we think she's found a path, she looks up and through the walls, realizing her plan wouldn't work. I clap my hands together, "It's fine. Take a break, Nebula."

She shakes her head and takes the projector from Godwell, "I would, but I have bad news. We have outdated information. Every route I plan starts off great but gets ruined by inaccurate starts."

I nod my understanding and ask, "Then... does anyone else have any ideas?"

They're all quiet at first, but Esper breaks the silence, "Uhm... I do..."

Nebula and I give her permission and she continues, unsure, "We could... go through... one of the main gates? There'd be less... Grimm, since there... would be a path. Not as much forest for them to hide in... right?"

Nebula has a hand on her forehead trying to think of how we'd execute it, "Yeah, the goal's pretty good, but we'd be in the open. And a majority of the buildings here don't go beyond two stories, so anywhere we could go, the Grimm could surely jump and follow."

I chuckle, "But there's the fun, Nebula. Majority of the time, what do we do? Improvise. We can't deploy an accurate route? Fine. You plan out the best route there from what you know and we'll follow your directions. The moment it starts to deviate from your plan, we'll improvise. Sound good, everyone?"

They nod and I tell them, "Great. We'll rest for a bit. Sleep shifts as usual, two and two, since it'll be a short rest."

They nod and I tell them, "Nebula, Godwell, you guys get first sleep shift, since you guys will plan our route and coordinate."

They pull some pews together and arrange their gear for their short rest, all of us turning off the recording on our gear. Never been a problem before. Everything's dull right now, so whoever's watching wouldn't be gaining much.

After a while I sit away from them with my back to the wall and pull out a little notepad, removing my helmet. I discover that Esper- also with her headgear removed- is sitting next to me, asking, "What's the notepad, Munsell? Gear check? Plans? Environment notes?"

I chuckle, "No. It's... a song."

She's interested, "Oh. Didn't take you for the song-writing type. Why a song?"

I reply, "Because, it helps me take my mind off things."

She chuckles, "Wait, taking your mind off the lifestyle you like? That seems ironic."

I chuckle, "Haha, yeah, you're right. It's not that I want to _not_ think about this stuff, it's that..." I pause, not wanting to say that it's Nadeshiko, "Thinking about her is something I like a lot more. The reason I do what I do, I learned recently, isn't because I feel I owe Akamuro. It's for her. What I'm doing is to help keep her safe. I know she can handle herself but I just want to make the world a better place for us."

Esper is quiet, "Oh. That's... pretty sweet, Munsell. So... is the song for her, then?"

I nod and she further asks, "Do you mind if I look?"

I'm hesitant at first but give the okay and hand it to her, Esper reading lightly out loud,

 _"She has the power to cure._

 _She has the power to break._

 _And now I don't know for sure,_

 _What exactly's at stake._

 _I lost her good side._

 _I'll go, if she wants me._

 _I lost her tonight._

 _I'll stay, if she wants me._

 _I'm scared to lose her._

 _My Nuclear Flower._ -

- _Her glow, made, me warm._

 _Now without her, I'm torn._

 _But that's alright._

 _Now I can't whine._

 _Because I'm no good._

 _Because I'm a fool._

 _Because I want what's best for you._

 _I'll leave if you want for good._ -

- _But please don't forget me._

 _Because we were a team._

 _A secret kept, between._

 _A secret kept, unseen._

 _Nuclear Flower._

 _That is what you were._

 _That is what you were to me."_

She hands me back the notepad and asks, "Why... does it sound so sad?"

I shrug, "I haven't really... been honest with her... about a lot, recently... We've been drifting... kind of..." I sigh, "I just... really want her to know she's still on my mind. That she's important to me. I want to sing it for her, but we haven't really had an opportunity. I don't know. I've messaged her a few times... but no response. I don't feel like giving up but it's damned hard, Esper. What do you think?"

Esper tells me, "Maybe... she's busy? Doing her own thing? I would say not to give up, if you really think she's worth it."

She gets up and dusts off her armor, "Well, I'm going to go do a tour. I hope you get the answers you're looking for, Munsell. Hey, maybe she'll send a message sometime soon."

I chuckle, "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Esper."


	22. Update

Hey, guys. Aldo7Aces here. Jus putting this update out there to let you guys know I might be taking down 'Amiable Times'. I don't know, but I feel like some of my views, beliefs, and opinions have changed that contest keeping it up.

I still haven't fully decided but I wanted to put it out there so that those of you interested in that series aren't going, "What? Where'd it go?" if I were to make the final decision to delete it.

Enjoy your day, dear old friends. Hope you understand.


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